A campaign group says councils are giving "extremely generous" pay packets to some employees as figures show 25 Nottinghamshire officials received more than £100,000 last year. The TaxPayers' Alliance, which campaigns against increased taxation, has released its annual 'town hall rich list' showing around 1,700 council officials across the country received more than £100,000 last year.
The group includes pension contributions and expenses on top of an employee's salary to reach a final figure. Its research, based on the accounts that are filed by councils, shows the highest amount received in Nottinghamshire last year was £230,586.
This amount was received by the chief executive of Nottinghamshire County Council, including £646 of expenses and £41,773 of pension. Nottinghamshire County Council had the most employees receiving over £100,000 last year, with eight of its officials included on the Taxpayers' Alliance list.
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John O'Connell, the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Taxpayers facing record council tax rises want to be sure they are getting value for money from their local authority leadership. Many authorities continue with extremely generous pay and perks, including bonuses and golden goodbyes, while local people are facing a financial squeeze. Residents can use these figures to hold their local town hall bosses to account."
All nine of Nottinghamshire's councils had filed accounts in time for the Taxpayers' Alliance figures being published except Nottingham City Council. It's not yet clear when the city will be filing its own accounts, but below are the figures for the eight Nottinghamshire councils that have provided information.
Ashfield District Council
One official at Ashfield received over £100,000 last year. Figures show £101,135 was given to the director of housing and assets, Paul Parkinson, which included £104 of expenses and £15,412 of pension.
Bassetlaw District Council
Two officials at Bassetlaw District Council received over £100,000 last year, when including expenses and pensions. The Alliance's figures show that one official, not specified, received £112,500.
The director of corporate resources, meanwhile, received £104,128. This included £190 of expenses and £16,960 of pension.
A spokesperson for Bassetlaw District Council, said: "Bassetlaw has just one senior officer whose annual salary is above the £100k mark identified by the TaxPayers' Alliance, with more than 500 council employees not in this pay category who are dedicated to delivering vital local services.
"The salaries our senior officers receive are in line with nationally negotiated pay settlements agreed by the Joint Negotiating Committees for Local Authority Chief Executives and Chief Officers. They are then further benchmarked against other Senior Officers across the East Midlands and neighbouring district councils.
"The Council is open and transparent regarding the pay scales of its Corporate Management Team and this information can be found within our Pay Policy Statement. Senior officers are responsible for an annual budget in excess of £74 million which provide vital services to residents including housing, benefits, waste management, recycling, and much more.
"They have also helped to leverage millions of pounds of funding into the district through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Levelling Up funds, in addition to helping to bring the UKAEA's ground-breaking Fusion Energy project to West Burton."
Broxtowe Borough Council
Two Broxtowe Borough Council employees, the chief executive and the deputy chief Executive, received over £100,000 last year. The chief executive, Ruth Hyde, received £138,810, including £21,170 of pension. Her deputy, Zulfiqar Darr received £116,780, including £17,810 of pension.
Gedling Borough Council
Gedling had one employee, its chief executive, receive over £100,000 last year. Mike Hill received £151,195, including £21,756 of pension.
Mansfield District Council
Three officials at Mansfield received over £100,000 last year, with the chief executive receiving £116,000 and two strategic directors each receiving £109,000. For the chief executive, the figure included £22,000 of pension whilst for the two strategic directors, the figure included £21,000 of pension.
The authority explained that its former chief executive Hayley Barsby stepped down in October 2021 and whilst recruiting for a replacement, the two strategic directors stepped in to fill the role in the interim. New chief exexutive Adam Hill then officially joined the council in August.
A Mansfield District Council spokesperson said: "The figures quoted are correct. However, they do include both salary and pension contributions.
"When recruiting for any role, particularly a senior leadership position, salaries must be comparable to attract good quality candidates. We would point out that Mansfield District Council is one of the lowest paying when it comes to chief executive salary. Also, we have not raised our precept of the council tax this financial year, or the last, to ensure stability for residents during this cost of living crisis."
Newark and Sherwood District Council
Newark and Sherwood had four officials receiving more than £100,000 last year. The highest payment was to the chief executive, John Robinson, who received £153,113.
This included £122 of expenses and £22,786 of pension. The other three officials to receive over £100,000 at Newark included the deputy chief executive and director of resources, the director of planning and growth and the director of communities and environment.
A spokesperson from Newark and Sherwood District Council said: "Newark and Sherwood is geographically the largest district council out of seven in Nottinghamshire and covers approximately a third of the county with 65,134 hectares of land including 84 civil parishes and 21 wards. As a district council we deliver essential services to around 121,000 residents across 57,340 households in the district.
"We employ 667 people and for the current financial year 2023/24, our annual gross budget for non-housing services is just over £53million. We are also one of the few Nottinghamshire authorities who have our own social housing stock of over 5,550 homes with an associated annual budget of £27.7million.
"The council also has capital schemes to deliver over the next four years to a value of £129m. These schemes include over £33m of inward investment, secured by the senior management team, which will leverage further third party funding in order to provide new educational, training and employment opportunities and also unlock strategic road infrastructure (the link road between the A1 and A46), together with a number of other priority projects. Additionally to this, the council has been allocated £3.29m in UK Shared Prosperity Funding over 3 years (2022-25).
"This will support local communities and businesses to help residents develop local skills and employment opportunities, increase pride in place and the enhance the local economy. A further £890k secured through the Rural England Prosperity Fund will be invested into local community infrastructure and business diversification projects to support growth in rural areas through capital funding throughout 2023-25.
"The council has continued to support residents, businesses and its staff through the cost of living crisis via a range of measures and in February a new dedicated fund of £150,000 was approved to introduce even more initiatives from a wide range of services, including vouchers for fuel, food and clothing, providing household and hygiene packs, webinars for businesses, debt advice and help for tenants to complete Council Tax Support application forms.
"Newark and Sherwood District Council, nor any other Nottinghamshire local authority, is included in the Town Hall Rich List Report, which determines the top ten or twenty individual salaries, bonuses and expenses. We do not offer bonuses for our employees."
Nottinghamshire County Council
The county council had the most employees receiving over £100,000 last year, with the chief executive receiving £230,586. This amount included £646 of expenses and £41,773 of pension.
One of the roles to have received over £100,000 is not specified. But the other six roles included three corporate directors, two service directors and the director of public health.
Rushcliffe Borough Council
Four officials at Rushcliffe received over £100,000 last year, including chief executive Kath Marriott, who received £135,365. This included £20,243 of pension.
The other three officials included two deputy CEOs and the director for growth and economic development. A Rushcliffe Borough Council spokesperson said: "We deliver high-quality services to over 119,000 people across the borough in a multi-million-pound local government operation with the lowest council tax rate anywhere in Nottinghamshire and within the lowest 25 per cent in the country.
"Our leadership and teams deliver the council’s current priorities on the environment, quality of life, efficient services and sustainable growth performing favourably to similar-sized councils and operating services with no debt. This was showcased most recently when shortlisted for Local Authority of the Year at the illustrious local authority MJ Awards, the only borough or district council nationally to be in the final six for the accolade."
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