Town Hall Rich List: The Solihull Council bosses paid more than the Prime Minister in 2023

New figures from the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) show that Solihull Council’s former chief executive earned the 13th highest remuneration pay package out of councils across England in 2023.

As households across the country are hit with inflation-busting council tax rises, the TPA has published its annual Town Hall Rich List.

The number of town hall bosses receiving more than £100,000 in 2022-23 across England stood at 3,106, the highest level since the 2015 edition of the list - and the second highest on record. It comes as core spending power for local authorities measured in real terms per person was revealed to have exceeded 2015-16 levels in the latest financial year.

But with 59 councils failing to provide accounts, the TPA says the real number could be as high as 3,637, which would be a record.

What the data shows for West Midlands councils

The biggest remuneration package in the West Midlands was received by Solihull Council’s former chief executive Nick Page with £326,411, which included a compensation package of £159,825 when he stepped down from the role in January 2023. This was the 13th highest remuneration package paid across England councils.

Mr Page stepped down from his role in 2023 after a council review following the death of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes found children facing "significant harm" due to delayed responses.

Solihull’s children's services were rated inadequate in the inspection. Mr Page stepped down with immediate effect following the review. Solihull Council’s current CEO Paul Johnson received a remuneration package of £181,332 in 2023. Solihull Council had five employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000 in 2022-23, according to the accounts.

These salaries are more than the £164,000 salary which could have been claimed over the same period by Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Birmingham City Council, which declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023, didn’t publish its accounts, the TPA confirmed.

In the West Midlands, the local authority with the most employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000 in 2022-23 was Warwickshire, with 36. Solihull Borough Council was contacted for a comment, but has not responded to the request from BirminghamWorld.

What else does the Taxpayres’ Alliance Rich List data show?

Felicity Roe, the former director of culture, communities and business services at Hampshire County Council, received the highest total pay and pension packet across local government in 2022/23 with £651,158 in total remuneration.

John Metcalfe, who spent only a year as chief executive of Cumbria County Council received the second-highest remuneration package with £586,134. The third highest was Newcastle City Council's director of resources Tony Kirkham who got a total of £496,403 in 2023.

The largest bonus given was to the chief executive of Edinburgh International Conference Centre, a subsidiary of Edinburgh council, M Dallas, who received a payment of £72,280.

Two councils, Bolsover and West Oxfordshire, had no employees receiving over £100,000 in 2022-23.

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