“Having not had a pay increase, on my £6.50 ph, for the last 3 years (to help the company I work for, through 'difficult times') I find all this sudden talk of 'belt tightenening' rather bemusing, as some of us have been doing 'our bit', feeling and sharing the pain, for several years!

Obviously, I strongly commend Mr Laverys brave and noble stance on his descision to cut his pay by 5% to a derisory £190,000 pa ( which effectively cuts his recent pay RISE of 18% to ONLY 13% ) and I trust his belt will not become so loose that his trousers fall down. Although this would probably not be as uncomfotable and embarassing as for some of the unfortunates that lose their income altogether in the job cuts. Or those that genuinely rely on the council services they need. It seems a very simple, lazy, inadequate and ill conceived means of management response.
I have heard of other large councils ( Manchester being one, I believe ) taking a much more innovative and forward thinking stance to making savings that avoid job losses.
I am always very wary when I hear about ' outsourcing ' services to the private sector ( jobs for the boys perhaps? Quickly form a company, because the council is going to become 'commissioners' and we might get a slice of that pie. Laverrys Services Co Ltd perhaps? ). Easy to set up by Febuary. Think of all those recently out of work ex council workers, all clammering for low paid carers jobs. Cheaper in the short term? Better services? Good employment conditions? I doubt it.
Also...as an aside, Tony Blair ( who is not PM anymore ;-) ) is reportedly earning a fortune on the 'speaker circuit', writing memoirs AND rather ironically, from his IRAQI OIL INTERESTS!!!!!
All is fair in money, politics and war. It just appears that some have a different outlook on 'fairness' ( and 'Big Society' ) than others.”

“Cornish born & bred, St Austell.

Are you sure about that? Read this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8303305.stm

Is Kevin Lavery involved in SOLACE:

http://www.solace.org.uk/library_documents/22_SFI_Innovation_through_people_July2008.pdf

Note the date predates Cornwall Council...

What do SOLCE do? They provide consultancy on the hiring of CEO's for local authorities...

Please note that I am not stating that there was any corruption involved in the appointment of Mr Lavery, I am simply drawing your attention to certain information that is in the public domain.”

“http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/8067203/Councils-chiefs-stand-firm-against-Eric-Pickles-call-for-pay-cuts-of-up-to-10-per-cent.html”

“83% say you're wrong Mr Lavery and anyway wasn't 5% suggested to you by Pickles as a sacrifice for the peasants? (we'll look after you later) Devon CEO cut his by 5% in Feb. I should imagine 83% is also a good guess for the percentage of rate payers who opposed the Unitary foisted upon us by the lib/dums because of the £500m +PFIs debt, because it would save us how much? And the £millions of rates spent to get rid of staff into and out of our authority only to take up another post weeks later?
How odd that you compare your lot with Doncaster's CEO, an authority previously renown for fraud and corruption and when the electorate were so sick of it they elected a mayor who they trusted to clean it up only to see a gov't fiat overule the democratically elected mayor.
But doesn't the serco connection mean a conflict of interests?
Could someone advise me?
To quote Peter Davies, ex Doncaster mayor, £175k is a joke, his sucessor can expect half of that.
Or Commissar Pickles, £175k + gold card, toe the line and you'll go far...”

“Mr Lavery missed a trick. He could have seized the initiative and led by example. Had he offered a 10% reduction, he would still have been in receipt of £180,000 salary but at least he would have gained the moral high ground and been in a position to ask the same of his staff. I believe 60% of council expenditure is salaries. If all staff took a 10% reduction and just one capital scheme suspended, such as the deeply unpopular Penzance Harbour development , all the £100,000 saving sought could be achieved without a single person loosing their job. Surely this is obvious and preferable? Finally, although Mr Lavery is saving the Council 5%/£10,000, he is of course only loosing about £4,000 p.a. net of deductions which he won't even miss. "Wiy aye man - canny lad that Lavery."”

“Imagine yourself at work, sorting out a huge mess from a previous person who did your job, such a demanding job that you eat..sleep..& dream/nightmares about it? Imagine too that in this nightmare of a job you had to make huge savings (whether you liked it or not). Along with this, having applied for a job that you knew that anyone & everyone would complain about the work you do?
Now imagine yourself whilst doing this job at work one year, stressed out with cost cutting, you make this decision to cut your own salary? What thanks do people around you show?? They tell you openly that you are useless, you should volenteer to loose even more pay, you've got it wrong!!
JUST THINK FOR A MOMENT> HOW WOULD YOU FEEL AT THIS POINT??

Whats wrong with people? This man is trying to help & all people around him is saying is 'Thats no good'.
You do his job for a year & see how you get on. DON'T FORGET, he did'nt interview himself. He applied for a job just like anyone else, he did'nt choose what salary they were advertizing with the job. He applied for & got the job.
Now he's got the job...He's showing a good example, a way forward for ALL in high paid jobs, yes even those in government. Which one of them have done this????
WELL DONE. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK> PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP>”

“Mr lavery showed his contempt for the people of Cornwall during his interview on spotlight this week.
according to Mr. lavery his salary has nothing to do with the people themselves.well,mr lavery i have got news for you; hardworking people like me pay your wages and we are not happy.”

“Didn't he get an %18 pay rise in April ? Which means he hasn't taken a pay cut - just agreed to a 13% rise. Normal workers are on a pay freeze and about to go through a second round of applying for their own jobs *again* with 2000 of them being made redundant. Its an insult. Cushy, secure well paid job, unlike the workers facing stress and job losses. Jobs which will probably be impossible to replace in Cornwall.”

“They say "The meek will inherit the Earth"but I think they already have,why is it that all the big earners in todays world drive desks?if Mr lavery phones in sick does the whole of the council grind to a halt?no so why is this post so highly paid in the first place and why are these jobs always full of other benifits like travel expenses etc.They play the tunes and we all dance...........”

“It will be interesting to see what other Council CEs do in the light of KL's move. I suspect he may not be popular now in their ranks. Hopefully the WMN will be asking the question and getting the answers in the SW.”