EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 FRIDAY 9 MARCH 2007 www.taxpayersalliance.com RESEARCH NOTE 11 TOWN HALL RICH LIST This note reveals details of 578 of the most highly paid people in local government – people earning above £100,000 a year in councils right across the country. Following on from the TPA’s Public Sector Rich List, (which was published in November 2006 and detailed excessive pay in quangos, Whitehall departments, public corporations and other public bodies, http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/PublicSectorRichList.pdf ) the TaxPayers' Alliance has conducted extensive research using the Freedom of Information Act (2000) to obtain the names, positions, total remuneration and remuneration details of all staff earning above £100,000 a year in 2004-05 and 2005-06 in 230 local authorities, covering every corner of the United Kingdom. Local authorities refuse to make this information publicly available in their annual accounts, and the TaxPayers' Alliance has encountered a coordinated cover-up attempt from a number of town halls, presumably concerned that publication of this information will increase local opposition to another round of above-inflation council tax increases. Nevertheless we have succeeded in obtaining responses from the vast majority of local councils and can present the startling figures, which illustrate the sheer scale of inflated pay for senior staff in local government. The key findings are: There are 5 people in local councils who earn more than £200,000 a year. There are 64 people in town halls who earn more than £150,000 a year. The number of people earning above £100,000 in local authorities is increasing at an alarming rate. There are 578 people on these “fat cat” salaries, compared with 429 people the year before, an increase of 35 per cent. 1 Warwick Row, London SW1E 5ER 0845 330 9554 www.taxpayersalliance.com 1 Consequently, the total pay bill for these senior staff stands at £72 million , compared with £53 million the year before, an increase of 36 per cent . Senior staff turnover in local authorities is rapid, but there are 350 people who feature on the Rich List in both 2004-05 and 2005-06. Their average pay rise was 6.09 per cent , three times the official rate of inflation and far higher than the 1.9 per cent pay awards granted to nurses last week. The average remuneration is almost £125,000 per annum. This works out at almost £2,500 a week . Although many people on the list are likely to work longer, based on the standard public sector 35-hour week, this equates to almost £70 an hour . Despite growing resentment over rising council tax bills, with the majority of councils agreeing another above-inflation increase for 2007-08, the town hall recruitment drive shows no signs of abating. In the last few weeks alone, the TaxPayers' Alliance has spotted the following job adverts in Society Guardian (scanned copies of these adverts are available on request): - Chief Executive, Highland Council, £133,000 - Director of Adult Services, Newcastle City Council, up to £110,000 - Director of Health, Housing & Adult Services, Sunderland City Council, £110,000 - Executive Director – Strategy & Resources, Oldham Council, £105,000 Comment from the TaxPayers’ Alliance Corin Taylor , Head of Research at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Families up and down the country are struggling with the demands of inflation-busting council tax bills and they will be outraged to know that much of their hard-earned money has gone on fat cat salaries. Local services are being cut back and town halls need to be shaken out of their culture of complacency.” Andrew Allum , Chairman of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: “Thousands of pensioners are having to choose between heating their homes and paying their council tax bills. It’s a complete insult to their dignity that so much of their money goes down the drain on top salaries for council staff. Town halls need to get a grip and cut back on gold-plated salaries, or they will find that council tax quickly becomes the new poll tax.” 1 Warwick Row, London SW1E 5ER 0845 330 9554 www.taxpayersalliance.com 2 The ways in which ever higher salaries are paid A number of interesting points emerged from the research, which illustrate some of the ways that town hall bosses award themselves ever more lucrative pay deals. Local elections. Local council Chief Executives, and in some cases other senior officers, undertake Returning Officer duties for local elections. This enables them to award themselves hefty payouts for these duties. This is a particularly common experience in Wales. For example, the Chief Executive of Caerphilly council, Malgwyn Davies, was paid £20,824.84 for Returning Officer duties in 2004-05. But it is not just confined to Wales. In 2004-05, the Chief Executive of North Tyneside council, John Marsden, was paid election fees of £14,075. Reorganisations. Senior staff turnover in many local councils seems to be remarkably rapid, and many of the same local authorities are undertaking reorganisations almost every year. These reorganisations appear to be a convenient excuse to increase pay at the top end. For example, Camden council reorganised parts of its executive team in 2005-06, granting huge pay rises in the process. Peter Bishop’s position changed from Director of Environment to Director of Culture & Environment; Neil Litherland’s position changed from Director of Housing to Director of Housing & Adult Social Care; and Heather Schroeder’s position changed from Director of Social Services to Director of Children, Schools & Families. The remuneration of each of the three was increased from £112,003 to £145,200, a rise of almost 30 per cent in a single year. Penny-pinching expense claims. It might be reasonable to think that a town hall executive earning £125,000 a year would not see a need to trifle with small expense details. But many of them make sure they claim every last penny. For example, the Chief Executive of Kirklees council, Robert Vincent, claimed £9.90 for travel, £4.30 for meals and £1.34 for bank charges in 2005-06. In 2004-05, he claimed £5 for car parking and £1.43 for bank charges. John Lindsay, the Chief Executive of East Lothian council, claimed subsistence of £4.45 in 2004-05 and £13.34 in 2005-06. Deprived boroughs. One of the most surprising findings from our research is that the poorest areas – where people find it most difficult to pay their council tax – often employ the highest number of staff earning above £100,000. For example, the council with the highest number of people earning above £100,000 a year is Tower Hamlets with 27 people. Tower Hamlets is one of 1 Warwick Row, London SW1E 5ER 0845 330 9554 www.taxpayersalliance.com 3 the poorest boroughs in the country. Similarly the Chief Executive of Merthyr Tydfil council in South Wales, which has high unemployment and close to if not the highest proportion of people on Incapacity Benefit in Britain, enjoys a pay deal of £127,658. Further details The Appendix to this note contains further details of the Town Hall Rich List. Four tables detail: The 10 most highly paid people in local councils; The 10 largest pay rises; The 8 councils with at least 10 people earning above £100,000; The 10 highest payments for Returning Officer and election duties; The full Town Hall Rich List can be found at the end of this document. Sources and methodology 1. The Town Hall Rich List was complied from responses to Freedom of Information Act (2000) requests submitted in January 2007 to 230 local authorities covering the entire surface area of the United Kingdom. Requests were submitted to the Greater London Assembly, the City of London, London borough councils, English county councils, English unitary authorities, Welsh unitary authorities, Northern Irish district councils, Scottish councils, and English metropolitan district councils. The only councils that were not included were the English non-metropolitan district councils, although these are one tier below the English county councils. We do plan to include these councils in next year’s Rich List. The TaxPayers' Alliance is very grateful to Heather Brooke, freedom of information campaigner and author of Your Right to Know, which has just been republished by Pluto Press, for her help in drafting the FoI requests. 2. This is the first ever list of the highest paid people in local government. As explained in point 10, we have been battling with local councils to obtain the information. Our battle is not yet entirely won, and we are releasing the Town Hall Rich List now to assist with our campaign to make local authorities reveal just how they are spending taxpayers’ money. 1 Warwick Row, London SW1E 5ER 0845 330 9554 www.taxpayersalliance.com 4 3. In a number of cases the individual was not with the local authority for both 2004-05 and 2005-06. In these cases the cells are blank and there is no calculation made for the percentage increase in remuneration. Where details of arrival/departure dates etc. were provided in the FoI responses, they have been included. 4. In certain cases the individual was not with the local authority for the entire year and in some of these cases the FoI response provided an annualised remuneration figure, which we have used. As before, where details of arrival/departure dates etc. were provided in the FoI responses, they have been included. 5. In some other cases the individual held more than one post over the period, or the job title changed. In these instances the first job title is displayed, followed by a “/” and then the most up-to-date job title.