Town Hall Rich List 2022: Birmingham City Council has 21 officials earning over £100,000

Twenty-one Birmingham City Council officers earned more than £100,000 during the pandemic.

The highest earning Birmingham City Council post during 2020/21 was the Director, Place whose incumbent took home £204,058 during 2020/21, according to research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA).

This income included a £167,00 payout for loss of office, with the salary being £31,661.

The second highest earner was the Director, education who took home £185,460 - they were paid a salary of £142,532, a further £16,884 in expenses and £26,044 in pension payments.

There was only one Birmingham City Council official whose salary was over £150,000. The acting chief executive and director, adult social care, was paid a salary of £173,060, which is below the national average.

The TPA research only mentions the names of post holders where these are identified by the council.

Birmingham City Council only mentions one name, that of Professor Graeme Betts, who holds the post of adult social care director - their highest earning officer.

How does this compare to the rest of the West Midlands?

Birmingham had the highest number of officials in the West Midlands on salaries of over £100,000 during the pandemic, but as it is the biggest local authority in the country that is probably not surprising.

Yet it did not have the highest earning official in the region. The TPA study shows that Sandwell’s executive director, neighbourhoods took home the most money, with £301,623 paid out to them.

How does this compare to the rest of the country and previous years?

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 2019-20. It is also the highest number since 2013-14.

739 received over £150,000, 46 more than the previous year.

The average number of employees who received over £100,000 in total remuneration per local authority is 7.7. The average number receiving over £150,000 is two employees per council.

A total of 23local authority employees received a loss of office payment of more than £95,000 – the former cap on payoffs for public sector employees – two more than the previous year. This cap was subsequently revoked and only partially covered the period of this year’s Town Hall Rich List.

The local authority with the greatest numberof employees whose remuneration was in excess of £100,000 was Westminster council with 44 employees, nine more than the previous year.

The former chief executive of Croydon council, Jo Negrini, received the highest remuneration of any council employee in the country at £613,895. This is despite the council effectively declaring bankruptcy in November 2020. Negrini left the council in September 2020, and received a loss of office payment of £144,356 and a pension strain payment of £292,851.

What has the TPA said about the findings in The Town Hall Rich List?

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:

“Taxpayers facing a cost of living crisis want to know they are getting value for money from their local authority leadership.

“With households having suffered through the pandemic and now struggling under colossal tax bills, the country needs councils to prioritise key services without resorting to punishing tax hikes.

“These figures will allow residents to judge town hall bosses for themselves and hold their local councils to account.”

Where does this research come from?

The TPA said that their figures are sourced from the annual accounts published by each council. These are available online on each council’s website. They use audited accounts whenever available. But if audited accounts are not provided by the council, then the TPA uses unaudited or draft accounts which are also provided by councils.

The amount used is the total remuneration an individual receives, including their pension payments and expenses. This amount represents the total cost to the taxpayer.

Redundancy payments are also included, even where an individual’s salary is below £100,000 because these cost are also incurred by taxpayers.

A bit more information about the TPA Town Hall Rich List...

The Town Hall Rich List is the only list of its kind of all senior council employees throughout the country and is always published at the start of April to coincide with new council tax charges. The TPA publish it then to allow residents to see their local council’s senior employees’ remunerations and directly compare these to other councils around the country.

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