General

More 4 News has obtained information under the Freedom of Information Act which has revealed that Westminster spent £5m of public money on bonuses for staff during the 2007/08 financial year. That would have added £39 to that year's average 'band D' Council Tax bill.

An individual breakdown of bonuses awarded to council employees on very high salaries, released today by the TaxPayers' Alliance, revealed that £452,500 of the £5m went to the 17 Westminster council employees who each earned at least £100,000 that year.

Former Westminster chief executive Peter Rogers collected £42,500, taking his total package to £205,000 - more than the Prime Minister earns in a year. This was the highest bonus paid to any council employee in the country, according to the results of the Freedom of Information Act request.

The exact total paid in bonuses by Westminster council during 2007/08 was £4,992,285. This was the third highest total of all the 280 councils who provided information, behind only Birmingham and Kirklees. The only other London council in the top 20 was the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which like Westminster is Conservative-controlled. They paid a lot less however, at £1.7m.

The astonishing figures follow the recent revelation that Westminster council has spent tens of thousands of pounds leasing flash cars, such as the BMW Z4, for top staff.

Labour has called for Conservative-run Westminster City Council to “stop spinning and start paying” after new figures revealed the council breaking a promise to pay local small businesses on time.

When council leader Colin Barrow announced policies in October to deal with the economic downturn, he followed Lord Mandelson’s call and said the council would be “paying invoices from smaller businesses within 7 to 10 days”. However, the most recent statistics from the council admit that only 37.5 percent of invoices from small businesses were paid within ten days.

Read more: Labour says "Stop Spinning and Start Paying"

Westminster Council is going ahead with a £23,000 slap-up dinner  - despite trying to claw back millions lost in the Icelandic bank collapse.

Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour Group, urged the council to scrap the black tie event, which comes as the Town Hall axes 200 jobs and amid ongoing efforts to retrieve some of the £17million drained from its coffers by the banking crisis.

More than 250 guests, including councillors, diplomats and local organistions, are due at the annual Civic Dinner, at Lancaster House, a mansion in St James's on March 22.

The Conservative-run council says the dinner is a chance to thank local organisations for their efforts, a claim rubbished by Cllr Dimoldenberg who said the majority of attendees will be "dignatories''.

"It is completely out of touch with the reality of life in 2009," said Cllr Dimoldenberg, of Queen's Park ward.

"Spending £23,000 is total madness at a time when many Westminster residents are losing their jobs and homes.

"Westminster Conservatives claim that despite losing £17m it is still 'business as usual' at the council. It looks more like 'snouts in the trough as usual."

Read more: Westminster Council spends £23k on dinner

Furious London taxi drivers may again bring gridlock to the city's streets after Westminster Council refused to backtrack on a controversial minicab marshal scheme across the West End.

Black cabbies say the scheme allows mincabs to 'rank' in the heart of London, a privilege reserved for taxis under the Public Carriage Office's licensing rules.

The pilot scheme is due to run until then end of the month, but the council is deciding whether to introduce marshals to other central London streets.

Hundreds of cabbies took part in a 'drive-in' protest, on Thursday, February 5, against the marshalling scheme, which comes as the trade faces its leanest times in memory. Taxi groups say fares are down 30 per cent since December.

Westminster Council, which set up the scheme with the Heart of London Business Alliance, says it introduced the marshals to provide safe transport to and from the West End, making it harder for touts and illegal minicabs to operate.

Read more: London Taxis threaten more protests