Peterborough and Cambs council chiefs feature on annual Town Hall Rich List

Eleven job roles in Peterborough and 10 in Cambridgeshire feature on the list of those earning £100,000 earning or more, although only one individual is named.

However, the list lacks clarity as several senior officers work for both Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council, meaning their salaries are split between both authorities.

Moreover, the city council’s list of salaries includes seven salary pay bands which are £100,000 or more.

This includes the salary of chief executive Gillian Beasley who is said to be paid between £170,000 and £174,999 on the council’s list, but £203,346 on the Taxpayers’ Alliance list, although this also her pension contribution.

In total, 89 positions at the council (according to its own list) have a salary band starting at £50,000 or more.

The county council lists 18 positions on its own website where an individual will receive more than £100,000, although again most are shared roles.

A spokesperson for the county and city councils, which now share a communications team, said: “Both councils have a small and almost totally joint corporate management team which has significantly reduced the number of employees being paid more than £100,000 by either Cambridgeshire County Council or Peterborough City Council.

“As part of an ongoing drive to improve efficiency and effectiveness, as well as value for money, the costs of senior management posts are shared between both councils. This arrangement includes the authority’s chief executive, director of public health and executive directors of both People and Communities directorate and the Place and Economy directorate.

“All senior council salaries are agreed in line with our senior management pay structure which is approved by elected members on our Employment Committee. In accordance with the council’s pay policy, advice is sought from the Hay Group’s independent evaluation scheme.

“Both councils also publish a list of all those officers whose salaries are £50,000 or higher on their websites annually for the purposes of transparency.”

According to the Taxpayer’s Alliance in 2018/19 there were at least 2,667 council employees in the UK who received total remuneration in excess of £100,000. That is 226 more than in 2017/18 and the highest number since 2013/14.

Of those, 667 council employees earned more than £150,000, 60 more than in 2017/18.

A total of 32 local authority employees received remuneration in excess of a quarter of a million pounds, while 25 received a loss of office payment of more than £95,000.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The coronavirus crisis means that frontline council services are more crucial than ever, but at the same time household budgets face an enormous squeeze from crushing council tax rises.

“There are plenty of talented people in local authorities who are focused on delivering more for less, but that is needed across the board. The country needs every council to cut out waste and prioritise key services without resorting to punishing tax hikes on their residents.

“These figures should shine a light on the town hall bosses who’ve got it right, but also allow taxpayers to hold to account those who aren’t delivering value for money at this critical time.”