Expanding JLC hikes spending to over £3m

The number of JLC employees rose from 13 in 2013 to 17 last year, while the Board's dropped from 15 to 14.

The highest earning JLC employee was in the £140,000-£149,999 pay bracket last year, compared with £80,000-£89,999 in 2013. The Board paid its most expensive official between £100,000 to £110,000 in 2014.

Whereas the JLC had just six employees three years ago, its staff has risen through the creation of its sub-divisions, its Partnerships for Jewish Schools body, and its leadership training initiative, Lead.

The JLC's staff bill rose from £675,000 in 2013 to £835,000 in 2014, while over the same period the Board's fell from £591,000 to £581,000.

Last year the council dished out £1,487,000 in grants including £684,000 for "cultural education" to Israel advocacy group Bicom and £650,000 towards the redevelopment of the King Solomon High School campus in Essex.

It also gave £41,500 to the Board of Deputies, £45,000 for "Friends of Israel" activities and £30,000 to the London Jewish Forum.

It has also amassed a fighting fund of more than £200,000 for its new "Delegit Project", which is intended to "counter the threat of delegitimisation of the state of Israel in civil society".

While the JLC's income was £3,284,000 in 2014, that was eclipsed by the Board last year, which enjoyed incoming funds of £4,820,000 last year.

But the Board's funding bonanza was largely the result of the sale of
its central London headquarters for £5.8 million. Once the cost of the move, renting premises and staff redundancies are taken into account, the Board was left with a net gain from the sale of £3,924,000.

If the proceeds from the sale are excluded, the Board's income fell to £895,000 in 2014 from £1,167,000 the previous year and from £1,255,000 in 2011.