Town hall rich list is revealed
The latest ‘town hall rich list’ has been published, showing how many council employees received more than £100,000 in 2022/23. Collated by The Taxpayers’ Alliance, the figures showed that 73 employees of councils across East and West Sussex – not including Brighton & Hove – took home more than £100,000 in salary, pension and other expenses.
Of those, 18 pocketed more in total remuneration than the Prime Minister’s £164,951 salary entitlement.
John O’connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “The new financial year has seen council tax soar across the country, and taxpayers will notice that top brass pay has simultaneously surged.
“Local authorities provide crucial services and residents will want to make sure they are getting bang for their buck with their ever-increasing bills. “Residents can use these figures to ask whether precious funds are really going towards front-line services, or whether town hall bosses can get better value for money.”
The Local Government
Association pointed out that senior pay is decided by councillors. A spokesman 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.”
Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council share employee costs: chief executive officer Catherine Howe received £168,106, including £25,764 pension; director for digital and resources received £124,942 including £19,149 pension; director for the economy received £122,536 including £18,780 pension; director for communities received £118,332 including £18,129 pension; the head of housing, strategic housing received £179,423 including £13,461 pension and an £85,000 loss of office payment and the head of legal, monitoring officer received £175,195, including £6,128 pension – the duties of this position were carried out by an external locum until October, 2022, while a permanent employee was recruited.
Arun District Council: the chief executive officer at the time, James Hassett, received £154,000 including £27,000 pension; interim group head of housing received £211,000 in salary, fees and allowances; director of environment and communities received £124,000 including £22,000 pension and director of growth received £124,000 including £22,000 pension.
Chichester District Council: chief executive Diane Shepherd received £166,154 including £25,681 pension; service director for corporate services/s151 officer received £124,355 including £19,197 pension; service director for housing and communities services received £116,976 including £18,040 pension; service director for growth and place received £116,906 including £18,040 pension and service director for planning and the environment received £116,810 including £18,025 pension.
Crawley Borough Council: the chief executive officer at the time, Natalie Brahma-pearl, received £157,844 including £24,137 pension and £1,239 expenses/benefits in kind and the deputy chief executive received £131,262 including £21,050 pension
East Sussex County Council: in 2022/23, Becky Shaw served as chief executive officer for both East and West Sussex County Councils. She received £144,471 from East Sussex, including £21,590 pension, £211 expenses/benefits in kind and £16,723 for additional duties and acting up. The West Sussex accounts also show payments of £163,681 were made to East Sussex for Ms Shaw’s services, including £40,911 of accrued expendi