The toothbrush fairy: a £3,000 council non-job

Councils have been accused of wasting millions of pounds of public money on pointless jobs, including a £23,000-a-year composting supervisor, a toothbrush adviser for infants and a ceremonial sword bearer.

An audit of local government positions, obtained under freedom of information legislation, reveals jobs that are far removed from the core remit of councils and appear to be of questionable value. They include trampoline coaches, skate park attendants, flower arrangers, a “befriending co-ordinator” and a £15-an-hour yoga instructor.

Many positions in local government have their origins in health and safety regulations. At the height of turmoil in the financial markets late last year, Tewkesbury council in Gloucestershire deemed it necessary to appoint a “falls prevention fitness adviser”, primarily to help elderly people.



In Scotland, Angus council employs a “bouncy castle attendant” on a salary of £13,000, while Falkirk pays a part-time “toothbrush assistant” £3,032 to teach nursery children how to clean their teeth. The council also employs a “cheerleading development officer”.

In Glasgow, taxpayers are funding a £17,000-a-year “street mediator” to deal with children hanging around on street corners, a florist on a £17,800 salary and a “chewing gum removal labourer”. Some public sector posts are even more surreal. Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, which has increased council tax by an average of 3.95% in 2009-10, employs several part-time pianists at municipal events.

Windsor & Maidenhead in Berkshire, where council tax has risen by 1.9%, cannot do without the services of a “roller disco coach” every Saturday night, while the local authorities in Waveney, Suffolk, have recruited a £15-an-hour yoga instructor.