MORE THAN thirty North East council employees are being paid over £100,000 a year for their work.
New figures, collected as part of the Town Hall Rich List 2022 by the TaxPayer’s Alliance, show Stockton Council currently pays 10 employees over £100,000 – the largest number of any council in County Durham and the Tees Valley.
It comes as some councils in the region recently approved council tax increases of almost three per cent during accost of living crisis caused by rising fuel and energy bills.
The authority’s managing director Julie Danks receives £153,61, while other employee roles raging from director or town centres investment; director of finance, development and business services; and director of children’s services received over £120,000.
At Durham County Council, seven employees are on more than £100,000, while four are on more than £150,000. The highest salary is for Alan Patrickson, corporate director for neighbourhood and climate change - £153,46. But the authority defended its high wage packages by saying it helps them attract “the right staff”.
Paul Darby, Durham County Council’s corporate director of resources, said: “As the largest council in the North East and the seventh largest single tier authority in England, it is inevitable that our numbers will be higher than those of smaller organisations.
“We deliver excellent services to more than half a million residents and have a gross expenditure in excess of £1 billion. It is, therefore, important that we offer competitive salaries to help us attract the right staff.
“The salaries of all senior managers, and that of the chief executive, were individually assessed prior to the creation of the unitary authority in 2009, when the eight former councils were brought together. At that time, this saved more than £3.6 million in senior management costs. And, since then, there has been a significant reduction in management across the authority.”
Darlington Borough Council currently pays five employees more than £100,000. The highest earner – Paul Wildsmith, its managing director – was on £155,007.
Councillor Heather Scott, leader of the council, said “Paul Wildsmith retired a year ago and savings were made following his departure, due to a restructure. We need to offer competitive salaries that will attract the right calibre of professional people to our specialists’ posts, to ensure we deliver the best services possible to our residents. Our salaries are in line with other authorities.”
At Redcar and Cleveland Council, four employees are on £100k salaries. The highest is for the unnamed managing director (head of paid service) who earns £138,712. A spokesman for the council said: “Salaries are similar to those within other local authorities and are based on a transparent pay structure which includes job evaluation of roles to ensure they remunerated at rates in accordance with the level of responsibility.”
While Middlesbrough Council only had three employees over £100,00 it paid out the seventh highest remuneration package in the country, totalling £373,047 for the executive director for growth and places.
And at Hartlepool Council, there were three employees on £100,000+ salaries, the highest being its director of children’s and joint commissioning - £119,591. A Hartlepool Borough Council spokesman said: “The most senior local government posts come with significant statutory responsibility and that is reflected in the salaries paid by councils across the UK.
"As an authority, it is vital that we are able to recruit suitably qualified and experienced staff but we also recognise the importance of achieving best value for local Council Tax payers.
"The salaries paid to our most senior staff are, in some cases, lower than the average “going rate” for the region and, in addition, significant savings have been achieved in recent years as a result of senior management team restructures.
“The council had already published details of senior managers’ remuneration in the Statement of Accounts.”
Nationally, at least 2,921 people employed by local authorities in 2020/21 received more than £100,000 in total remuneration, an increase of 119 on the previous year.
The report found 739 received more than £150,000, 46 more than the previous year.
Employees in the North East made up 110 of the 2,921 salaries which are more than £100,000. The highest salary in the region is for Patrick Melia, chief executive at Sunderland Council, who gets £191,60
For the second year running, the local authority with the most employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000 in 2020-21 was Northumberland with 20, seven more than the previous year.
The biggest remuneration package in this region was received by Northumberland's service director: adult services and community - £572,916.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.
For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.
Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here