Fifteen Portsmouth high earners on town hall list
Multiple Portsmouth council chiefs have made the ‘Town Hall Rich List’ for earning more than £100,000.
Six of the Portsmouth
City Council officers listed earned more than £120,000 – including former chief executive David Williams, the highest paid, whose salary was more than that of the UK Prime Minister.
Overall, 15 Portsmouth officials made the list released by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, each posting earnings of more than £100,000 when total remunerations are taken into account.
The city council’s current chief executive, Natalie Brahma-Pearl, took over from David Williams in September last year after the latter retired from full-time work.
His salary was the highest at £196,620 with a total remuneration of £232,620.
Anne-Marie Mountifield, the chief executive of Solent Local Enterprise, was the second highest earner with a salary of £168,541 - which increased by £15,155 since the year before.
The figures in the Taxpayers’ Alliance ‘rich list’ were for the 2022-23 financial year, and were published the week after a 4.99% council tax rise came into force in Portsmouth.
The Local Government Association states that councils are ‘large, complex organisations with sizeable budgets’ and it is important the right people are in the job, with appropriate pay to retain them.
However, the TaxPayers’ Alliance, which draws up the Town Hall Rich List annually using information requests from local authorities across the country, believes pay should be reduced to keep more money in household budgets, particularly given the cost-ofliving crisis.
The campaign group said the number of
UK council officers earning more than £100,000 in 202223 stood at 3,106, the highest level since the 2015 edition of the list and the secondhighest on record.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance said despite consistent calls about stretched budgets and struggling services, there has been a ‘surge in the number of senior officials receiving six-figure remuneration packages at the same time that councils have seen boosts in revenues through council tax rises and increased funding from central government’.
The alliance is calling on councils to ensure value for money for residents by freezing council tax.
They also state that 59 councils did not provide accounts for 2022-23, a marked decrease on previous years.
A Local Government Association spokesperson said: “Councils are large, complex organisations with sizeable budgets.
“It is important that the right people with the right skills and experience are retained to deliver this important work.
“Senior pay is always decided by democratically elected councillors in an open and transparent way.” The city council has been approached
for comment.
It is important that the right people with the right skills and experience are retained to deliver this important work