£100k pay for council staff

Annual ‘Town Hall Rich List’ revealed

Eight senior officers at Peterborough City Council received more than £100,000 last year.

The council’s chief executive Gillian Beasley, who holds the same role at Cambridgeshire County Council, took home £205,164, which includes a pension of £28,692.

The figures were released by the TaxPayers’ Alliance in its annual ‘Town Hall Rich List’. The lobbying group revealed that across the UK at least 2,454 council staff were paid more than £100,000 a year in 2017/18.

That was 148 more than in 2016/17 and the highest number since 2013/14, despite most parts of the country seeing services being cut and council tax rising.

The authority with the highest number of staff receiving £100,000 or more was Essex County Council with 55.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “There are talented people in the public sector who are trying to deliver more for less, but the sheer scale of these packages raise serious questions about efficiency and priorities.”

A council spokesperson said: “The council has a small corporate management team in comparison to several other authorities and has reduced the number of employees earning over £100,000 in recent years.

“As part of an ongoing drive to reduce costs the council shares most of its senior management posts with Cambridgeshire County Council. This arrangement includes the authority’s chief executive, which has reduced her total remuneration paid by the city council by half.”