Town Hall Rich List published

New research from the TaxPayers Alliance has revealed that there were at least 2,454 council employees who received total remuneration in excess of £100,000 last year.

As party of the 12th Town Hall Rich List, which details the full remuneration and many of the names of all local council employees whose remuneration exceeds £100,000, the alliance says that many senior managers at local authorities have performed well in tough financial times.

However, the Town Hall Rich List also showcases the executives who have overseen failing departments, or received bumper pay-offs after poor performance in the job.

In total, 148 more employees earned more than £100,000 than in 2016-17 and 608 council employees earned over £150,000. The local authority with the greatest number of employees receiving remuneration in excess of £100,000 was Essex council with 55 employees in total earning over this amount. Essex also had the highest number of employees earning over £150,000 at 13. In total, 28 local authority employees received remuneration in excess of a quarter of a million pounds in 2017-18.

A representative from the County Councils Network said: “County councils are the largest councils in the country, providing services to 26 million residents across 86 per cent of England’s landmass. These authorities oversee the largest budgets in local government and are responsible for providing large, complex services, many of which are to the most vulnerable in our society, such as adult and children’s social care. They are also responsible for strategic services, such as transport, highways and infrastructure, which help drive our national economy and keep Britain moving.
 
“Given the importance of the services these councils provide, they need to be able to attract the right people, with the right skills. Levels of senior pay are decided by democratically elected politicians in an open and transparent manner.”