SIXTEEN council chiefs earning six-figure pay packets have featured on a 'Town Hall Rich List', says a pressure group.
At a time when bills have continued to rise during the cost of living crisis, The TaxPayers Alliance group has published the list of top earners at local authorities across UK councils.
The dataset is the 17th edition of the Tax Payers' Alliance research, and despite the financial struggles facing many local authorities, the number of council employees, nationally, receiving more than £100,000 in remuneration packages has risen to the highest level since 2013-14.
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In St Helens, the council has previously pointed out that 14 years of austerity cuts from the government has resulted in a decline in council services and rising council tax bills.
Council tax was increased by another 4.99 percent this year and the council often looks at ways how it can generate income streams to fund services and balance its budget.
The reality of the council's financial difficulties was highlighted in January as it was reported that the local authority could be issued a Section 114 notice in the medium term, often understood as effectively declaring bankruptcy.
Despite these financial difficulties, the TaxPayers' Alliance list shows that 16 employees at St Helens Council earned remuneration packages worth more than £100,000 between 2022 and 2023.
Total remuneration includes, but is not limited to, salary, benefits, expenses, bonuses, any stated election duty fees, redundancy payments and employer’s pension contributions.
The only reported name on the list is the council's Chief Executive, Kath O'Dwyer, who earned a base salary of £169k from 2022-23.
Mrs O'Dwyers full pay packet was topped up to £198,000 following pension contributions.
The rest of the list is only reported as 'undisclosed' names, although it does report that these jobs include the Executive Director of People's Services, Executive Director of Corporate Services, Executive Director of Place Services, Director of Legal and Governance and Director of Adult Services.
Other roles, including the Director of Public Health, Director of Children’s Services, and the Assistant Chief Executive also received remuneration packages of over £100k.
Topped up with pension contributions, these financial packages ranged between £175,000 to £102,500. This is five more employees earning over £100k compared to two years ago.
None of the list includes elected councillors, who are not paid a salary but are entitled to compensation packages which include allowance and expenses.
Addressing the figures, a St Helens Borough Council spokesperson said: “St Helens Borough Council uses the nationally negotiated pay spines as the basis for its local pay structure, including our senior officer leadership, as well as benchmarking and market testing against comparable roles.
“Each year we publish salary data to ensure transparency with regard to the council’s approach to setting pay.
“The need to recruit the best leadership for an organisation which employs thousands of people, with significant financial and social responsibility is critical, particularly in highly competitive market conditions, to ensure that we are able to navigate the council through a period of transformation to deliver the best possible services for residents.”
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