New Labour - Loves to waste our money

Politically correct 'non-jobs' costing the taxpayer almost £600million have been advertised in the past year, it emerged last night.

The 15,700 posts were offered by local councils and quangos in the Guardian newspaper's controversial 'Jobzilla' Society section.

They paid an average salary of £38,000 – a fifth more than in the private sector.

They included a raft of politically correct jobs, according to the TaxPayers' Alliance pressure group.

Examples ranged from a community empowerment network programme manager at Thurrock Council in Essex – paying almost £30,000 – to assistant chief executive (value for money) at Charnwood Borough Council in Leicestershire.

The latter post – supposed to save the taxpayer money – pays £55,000 a year.

In November alone, Hackney Council and the East London NHS Foundation Trust each offered three separate equality and diversity jobs paying £39,030 each – a total salary bill of more than £225,000.

The phenomenon, which has continued despite a promise by Gordon Brown three years ago to cut non-essential posts, was branded Jobzilla after the all-devouring screen monster Godzilla.

Peter Cuthbertson, research fellow for the TPA, said: 'The public sector is clogged with these ridiculous jobs, draining huge amounts of resources away from essential activities.

**Countless pen pushers, bean counters and paperclip movers all funded by the taxpayer and doing nothing, creating nothing, serving no valid reason other than to process ever more paper and justify their own existence.

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