Ministry of silly names; THE JOB TITLES THAT MAKE MOCKERY OF PUBLIC FUNDING

Byline: By LIZ WALKER

ASK a child what they want to be when they grow up and an Aspiration Strategy Manager is unlikely to be top of their list.

But browse a list of local Government career vacancies and there you will find a wealth of positions that may leave many job hunters baffled.

A council job advert has attracted controversy after it warned of the dangers of dealing with the abusive Tyneside public.

But this is not the first time a row has erupted over bizarre local Government jobs.

What are Durham County Council looking for in a Child Pedestrian Trainer? Or Newcastle City Council with their Information Compliance Manager, Assistant Performance Development Officer?

Public spending watchdog the Tax Payers Alliance compiles regular lists of what they say are Government "nonjobs".

One case they cite is a local council who appointed an Assistant Chief Executive for Value for Money - at a salary of pounds 50,000.

"A lot of people are concerned that as their tax bills go up they want to know their money is well spent.

"But many jobs in local Government are unnecessary and are duplicating work or are even at cross purposes.

"The names given to them are confusing and taxpayers can't see where their money is going."

In March 2007 Newcastle City Council came under fire for appointing a Climate Change officer on a salary of up to pounds 30,000. North East Conservative MEP Martin Callanan said: "They shouldn't need to employ an officer to go around telling people to switch off lights and not make unnecessary journeys, that's common sense."

Coun Wendy Taylor, Lib Dem executive member for environment and sustainability, defended the decision, saying: "This is an issue we think is extremely important and we want to be one of the leaders in tackling climate change."

In 2005 the new Head of Social Inclusion caused embarrassment to Newcastle City Council when it emerged he had previous convictions for people-smuggling.

Bright Oduro-Kwateng, 49, was sacked from his pounds 60,000-a-year post after it came to light he was jailed for defrauding the Home Office by using passports in the names of dead babies to bring people illegally into Britain.

Labour opposition leader Nick Forbes said there needed to be constant vigilance to make sure taxpayers' money was being well spent.

He said: "There is a danger of councils moving away from people's priorities and developing its own needs and agenda."

CAPTION(S):

APTLY NAMED: John Cleese in Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks, on TV in the 70s

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