Council executives under attack for high salaries

Top-earning council employees face criticism

Friday, 28, Mar 2008 12:00

Details of pay levels in Britain's local authorities reveal 14 town hall employees are earning more than the prime minister.

In all 818 local authority workers are earning more than £100,000 and 132 earn more than the £137,579 earned by a Cabinet minister, according to the Taxpayers Alliance's Town Hall Rich List.

Fourteen are earning more than Gordon Brown, who receives £188,849 each year, while six are earning in excess of £200,000.

The Alliance says those appearing in the list received a pay increase of 4.6 per cent, over double the government's target for public sector wage inflation.

Chief executive Matthew Elliott said his organisation's rich list said many council executives are "rewarded handsomely even when they fail".

"Families and pensioners are struggling with the demands of yet another council tax rise, and councils owe it to them to cut back on executive pay hikes," he said.

"Taxpayers have a right to know how much senior town hall officials are being paid because only then can we judge whether they deserve their remuneration."

The Taxpayers' Alliance said it hopes councils could follow the lead of local authorities like Hammersmith and Fulham, which are "trimming the fat from their budgets" and still providing much-needed services for local people.

Responding to the Rich List, the Local Government Association criticised the Taxpayers' Alliance for singling out individuals and pointed out the taxpayer "gets very good value for money" when compared with comparable salaries in the private sector.

"The naming of individuals by the Taxpayers' Alliance needs to be taken with an immense dollop of salt as its report is not only out of date but some parts have also been compiled inaccurately," LGA deputy chief executive John Ransford said.

"Many councils have bigger budgets than FTSE 100 companies and to get the brightest people to deliver the best services for local people they need to pay a competitive wage."