Gateway board directors paid nearly £410k between them in 2 years
TWO senior councillors and Halton Council’s chief executive are among seven directors to have been paid £409,645 between them in two years while serving on the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board (MGCB).
Exact details of who has received what are, however, being kept under wraps after the board refused to provide amounts following a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request from a member of the public.
Darrin Whyte, of Runcorn, received the refusal to his request on Monday, October 2.
The MCGB said some details are available with the Government’s business directory Companies House and told the Weekly News he was welcome to challenge their decision ‘through the official channels’.
The average amount works out at about £58,500 although the exact range remains unknown.
Reports filed with the service on October 3, 2016, listed the six direc- ● tors for the financial year 2015-16 as Halton Borough Council leader Cllr Rob Polhill, deputy leader Cllr Mike Wharton, Halton Council chief executive David Parr, MGCB finance director Helen Dearden, MGCB construction director Paul Fenwick and MGCB non-executive director Rodney Holmes.
It said a seventh director, Geoff Brown, was appointed on April 1, 2016, which falls outside the scope of the accounts.
According to the accounts, during the year April 2015 to March 31, 2016, the highest paid director received £96,334 in ‘emoluments’, up from £81,650 in 2015.
They also received pension contributions of £7,995, (£7,200 in 2015).
The six directors shared £186,827 in emoluments between them.
This was nearly £40,000 less than in 2014-15, when the sum shared was £222,818.
Total staff costs for the MGCB in 2015-16 for 21 employees including directors was £905,878, up from £761,743 for 16 employees the previous year. ●
Another director’s appointment, for Steve Nicholson, had been terminated on October 31, 2014, meaning for several months his service was within the scope of the two years of accounts.
The MGCB’s 2016-17 accounts are due to be filed by December 31, 2017.
According to its website, the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board Ltd is a special purpose vehicle – a type of subsidiary company – established by Halton Borough Council with the delegated authority to deliver the Mersey Gateway bridge project and to administer and oversee the construction and maintenance of the tolled crossings including the Silver Jubilee Bridge.
A spokeswoman for the board said: “The MGCB’s response to Mr Whyte’s recent FOI request stands.
“If Mr Whyte has any objections to the FOI response and wishes to make a representation, he can do so through the official channels.”