Show me the money!

Pressure on parking wardens will send their wages soaring
Felix Allen and Mark Blunden
London Evening Standard
22.11.10

Parking attendants will regularly double their wages as London's town halls urge them to issue more tickets to raise money to offset government cuts.

The warning follows revelations that a warden in one of the most deprived boroughs earned more than £50,000 last year.

Known as a Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officer, he earned £52,786 — more than some charity chief executives and four times a new nurse.

Another Tower Hamlets attendant was paid £44,319, despite a basic salary of £26,800.

Neil Herron, of the London Motorists' Action Group, said: “We hear that the guys who go out and ticket the best get the biggest bonuses, only they don't call it a bonus. We are repeatedly told there are no targets but how can anyone earn £53,000 if they're not being rewarded with some kind of bonus?”

Tower Hamlets said the “one-off” salaries consisted of overtime and pay reviews, with the average warden earning £26,800.

A council spokeswoman said: “Our civil enforcement officers do not receive any bonuses or payments related to the number of notices issued.”

Other boroughs paying high wages to parking attendants include Hounslow where one employee earned £42,524, and another, in Merton, £35,339.