Six council bosses get pay packets topping £100,000

SIX Inverclyde Council officials took home remuneration packages totalling more than £100,000 last year.

Figures disclosed as part of the annual ‘town hall rich list’, published by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, show that the local authority’s chief executive Louise Long remained the council’s top earner in 2022/23.

The Inverclyde Council boss had a total pay packet of over £159,000, with a £133,000 salary on top of a £26,000 pension.

Ruth Binks, the council’s corporate director of education, communities and organisational development, had the next highest total package.

Ms Binks received a wage of £122,000 and a pension payment of £24,000.

Long-serving chief financial officer Alan Puckrin and director of environment and regeneration Stuart Jamieson each received a wage of £111,000 and a pension payment of £21,000.

The rich list also reveals the pay packets of Inverclyde Council’s nowdeparted head of health and social care Allen Stevenson and former head of legal service Iain Strachan.

Mr Stevenson was on a salary of over £109,000 with a £21,000 pension payment, while Mr Strachan is listed as having received a salary of £95,000 with £18,000 towards his pension.

Inverclyde Council has not yet found a new permanent head of legal following Mr Strachan’s departure, with interim arrangements currently in place.

An Inverclyde Council spokesperson said: “Rates of pay are negotiated at a national level and salary information is published on our website each year for all to see.

“As the data compiled by the TaxPayers’ Alliance shows, the levels of remuneration for our senior management are entirely proportionate with other local authorities in Scotland and throughout the UK.

“Senior management salaries are reflective of the wide-ranging duties, responsibilities, and often legal obligations of the post-holders who run the council, which is Inverclyde’s largest employer with a workforce of around 4,000 staff delivering a range of services to a population of around 78,000 people.

“It is also worth remembering that senior management are responsible for a revenue budget of approximately £250 million annually and a £72m capital budget over the next four years.

“You would be hard-pressed to find a multi-national company to match the level of services that councils deliver.

“We are proud of our track record of supporting the most vulnerable in society with things like cost of living grants, the Warm Hand of Friendship initiative, funding free school meals for all primary pupils, providing enhanced clothing grants for school pupils in excess of the national minimum, funding free swimming for under-16s, and being a Real Living Wage accredited employer to ensure our own staff receive a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.

“That being said, more can always be done and we are continually lobbying government for additional funding to make Inverclyde an even better place to live, work, visit, and do business and somewhere that is open and inclusive for all.”