05.08.14
Nearly 550 council employees earning more than £150,000
More than 2,100 council employees are earning in excess of £100,000 a year, according to new research by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, and 542 are on more than £150,000.
In the eighth Town Hall Rich List, there were at least 2,181 council employees who received total remuneration in excess of £100,000 in 2012-13, but this represented a fall of 5% on the previous year’s 2,295 figure.
Despite this, though, 93 councils increased the number of staff who received salaries in excess of £100,000 in 2012-13.
Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is good news that the number of senior council staff making more than £100,000 a year is falling, although that may only be because many authorities have finished paying eye-watering redundancy bills.
“Sadly, too many local authorities are still increasing the number of highly paid staff on their payroll. It’s particularly galling in places where councils are pleading poverty and demanding more and more in Council Tax.
“Taxpayers expect their council to be filling potholes, not pay packets. Many rank-and-file staff in local councils will be equally appalled – at a time when councils across the country are freezing pay, it appears the money they’re saving is being used to line the pockets of town hall tycoons.”
The report also revealed that 34 council employees received salaries of more than £250,000.
The council with the most employees earning more than £100,000 in 2012-13 was Glasgow with 32. However, there were 52 councils with at least 10 employees receiving more than £100,000 in 2012-13.
Local government secretary Eric Pickles said he welcomed the research, but added: “There is still far more that local authorities can do to cut costs through consolidation of back offices, sharing services and greater transparency.”
These figures, however, come at a time when local government and school support workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are getting ready to hold a second day of strike action later this year – with regards to pay.
The industrial action – due to take place on 30 September – is being taken as the current pay offer of a 1% pay increase comes one the back of three successive years of pay freezes and below inflation rises in 2013 and 2014.
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