This week, we released the 17th edition of our Town Hall Rich List, revealing all the council employees with total remuneration over £100,000 in 2022-23. The rich list never fails to grab the attention of the public, the media, or politicians. There’s nothing else like it that exposes the huge pay packets awarded to council bosses.
With local residents recently being hit by another round of rate rises and local elections just around the corner, the research couldn’t be more timely - we’re committed to making sure you’ve got the facts when politicians come knocking for your vote! This year’s numbers could hardly be more shocking with 3,106 local authority employees hitting at least £100k and 175 of them topping £200k!
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Topping the table with the highest pay packet was the now former director of culture, community and business services at Hampshire council who received a staggering £651,158! Elsewhere, the former Cumbria council chief executive came in second on £586,134 having spent just a year in the job. The 20 best remunerated council chiefs shared over £7.8 million between them in 2022-23 - nice work if you can get it!
The award for the council with the most employees on over £100,000 once again went to Westminster with an almost unbelievable 60 members of staff on the big bucks.
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The number of councils that failed to publish their accounts on time jumped by 25 per cent to 59 meaning that, sadly, our findings are likely to be an underestimation. If all councils had met the statutory deadline, the TPA boffins reckon the true number of town hall fat cats could have hit 3,637. We’ve highlighted this growing accountability crisis before in our Great British Council Audit. Our investigations manager, Joanna Marchong, raised this important point in an op-ed for CapX: “Ministers need to bring in stricter reporting requirements for councillors and their auditors when it comes to meeting deadlines for publishing accounts.”
That these mega pay deals continue to be signed off whilst council tax soars is shocking. We’re calling on all councils to get a grip on these princely pay packets and freeze council tax for local ratepayers. If you agree, sign our petition here.
The Town Hall Rich List is one of our most important pieces of research we release each year. It gives local taxpayers the information they need to hold their councils to account. We’re completely reliant on the generosity of our supporters to keep producing this kind of in-depth research that makes such an impact.
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It should come as no surprise that our research dominated the news agenda and our media phone was ringing off the hook.
Our revelations could be found on the front pages of the Daily Mail, Yorkshire Post, Newcastle Journal and Daily Telegraph, as well as featuring prominently in the Times, Sun, Express, and Daily Star, not to mention hundreds of local papers. As our chief executive, John O’Connell, explained: “The new financial year has seen council tax soar across the country, and taxpayers will notice that top brass pay has simultaneously surged.”
In one of many broadcast appearances, TPA head of campaigns, Elliot Keck, sat down with Jacob Rees-Mogg in the GB News studio. Elliot told viewers across the country: “These are often very important roles but they have access to a level of additional benefits that are unheard of in the private sector… We want good people delivering good services but most people in the country feel their council hasn’t been performing up to standards recently.”
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It wasn’t simply TPA spokesmen railing against the latest findings. In his comment piece for the Daily Telegraph, financial columnist and author, Matthew Lynn, blasted: “the blunt truth is that many [councils] are instead run by second-rate pen pushers who are barely accountable… they are treating the taxpayers as fools, pushing through huge rises in local taxes, and imposing punitive fines on motorists and small businesses, all of which are designed to pay their own inflated pay packets.” Hear, hear!
When the Jeremy Vine Show covered the report, Saira Khan raged: “The services that we want at a basic level aren’t delivered properly so why are these people getting big fat cheques like that?”
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Ten takeaways from Town Hall Rich List 2024
Just in case you missed all the coverage, for this week’s blog our new media campaign manager, William Yarwood, brings us the ten things you need to know. Diving beneath the headlines, William gives you the stats you need to know the next time councillors come knocking.
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From the council kingpins getting more than the prime minister to the ‘Interim Executive Director for Neighbourhoods and Environment’ in Southend on the highest base salary, William’s blog is not one to be missed. Give it a read here.
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Town Hall Rich List Roadshow
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Unlike other Westminster groups, we pride ourselves on taking our message directly to high streets across the country.
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Armed with our latest findings, we’ll be speaking to local taxpayers across the country about what their town hall is spending their cash on. We’re putting the finishing touches to our campaign plan and will be hitting the streets in no time. Keep your eyes peeled for when the TPA will be visiting a council near you.
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Let it not be said that the TPA doesn’t give credit when it’s due. Bolsover and West Oxfordshire councils made it through 2022-23 without any employees getting over £100k and we’re very happy to congratulate them on this. Other authorities should take note.
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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