Includes full data for every council
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- Most comprehensive guide to top pay in UK local councils - detailed breakdowns for each council included.
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- Record 1,250 council staff earned over £100,000 in 2008-09 - up 14% on 2007-08.
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- Average pay rise for senior staff was 5%, despite the recession.
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- 31 people earned more than the Gordon Brown. This is up from 19 people in 2007-08, a 63 percent increase.
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) proudly presents the fourth Town Hall Rich List, the list of staff in local government whose remuneration exceeds £100,000. Since the first Rich List in 2007, the number of senior staff receiving such large sums has soared, and the latest Rich List shows that trend continuing despite the recession and economic hardship suffered in the private sector. The Fourth Town Hall Rich List reveals the names, job titles and full remuneration of this well-paid group for the financial year 2008-09, making it the first such Rich List covering the start of the recent recession. The report can be read here and includes detailed breakdowns for each council.
Many workers in the public and private sectors expect pay freezes or cuts with resources scarce following the recession and a crisis in the public finances. Despite this, the Rich List reveals that executive pay in town halls across the UK has continued to be insulated from economic reality. As Councils look for savings and taxpayers suffer rising bills, salaries have continued to rise for senior staff.
The Town Hall Rich List has proved extremely influential, achieving policy change from all three main political parties in the last 12 months. The Government last year introduced a statutory instrument proposing to name all senior officials with details of their full remuneration. Unfortunately the legislation was watered down after lobbying from local authorities and other public bodies. The Liberal Democrats also adopted a general policy of transparency for senior public sector employees last year. In March 2010, the Conservatives pledged to publish full details – including the name and position – of any Council worker who earns more than the entrance pay of a senior civil servant, or around £58,500. The political consensus is that the TPA's work should become formal policy whoever is in Government.
However, until that transparency is introduced the Town Hall Rich List remains the most comprehensive guide to senior pay in local authorities. To produce this report, the TaxPayers’ Alliance sends Freedom of Information requests to every council in the UK to find out more details of who the staff are and how their remuneration breaks down.
The full report can be found online here.
Key Findings
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- At least 1,250 council staff enjoyed remuneration of £100,000 or more in 2008-09. This is up from 1,099 in 2007-08, a 14 per cent increase.
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- There were 166 earning over £150,000 in 2008-09. This is up from 135 in 2007-08.
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- The average remuneration package for those on the Rich List was £125,745, or £2,418 a week.
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- The average pay rise for the people on our list was 5 per cent. This is compared with a 2.7 per cent pay rise for a nurse and 2.3 per cent pay rise for a teacher.
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- In 2008-09, 31 council staff earned more than the Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister. This is up from 19 people in 2007-08, a 63 percent increase. 219 received more money than cabinet ministers in 2008-09.
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- Based on our responses, the county council with the most staff earning £100,000 or more is Kent with 27. The metropolitan district with the most is Liverpool with 22.
Click here to download the full report.
John O'Connell, Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
"Town Hall bosses have had a very good recession at taxpayers' expense. More of them than ever are earning massive amounts, and they even enjoyed a healthy pay rise while everyone else was suffering pay freezes, cuts or redundancies. It is unfair that these public servants have been having a whale of a time while the ordinary taxpayers who fund their generous deals have been struggling to survive the recession. Now that most councils are in financial trouble, these senior managers must take serious pay cuts to help make ends meet."