Councils pay top officers over £4m (From The Oxford Times)

Councils pay top officers over £4m

10:20am Wednesday 25th April 2012 in Oxfordshire By Tom Jennings, covering Witney and West Oxfordshire. Call me on 01865 425403

COUNCILS in Oxfordshire paid out more than £4m in salary packages for senior officers last year, new figures show.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance also revealed last night there were 32 council officers in Oxfordshire whose wages, pension contributions and expenses came to more than £100,000 each in 2010/11.

The total cost of directors at the county and district councils comes to £4,321,881, the alliance figures show.

It called for council executives to take a pay cut so they had the “moral authority” to make spending cuts.

However the figures did show the directors had not been awarded large pay rises.

Oxfordshire County Council spent a total of £2,834,080 paying 21 remuneration packages that were more than £100,000.

Chief executive Joanna Simons’ package was £217,640, including a £182,431 salary and £35,209 in pension contributions.

Spokesman Owen Morton said senior staff members had not received a pay rise since 2008. The council had reduced the number of senior managers by 40 per cent since 2010.

Oxford City Council chief executive Peter Sloman’s package was £168,280 – £140,000 in salary, fees and allowances and £28,280 in pension contributions.

Three other senior executives also received more than £100,000.

Spokesman Louisa Dean said the council had saved more than £4m in the past year and this would not have been possible without attracting top staff.

West Oxfordshire District Council chief executive David Neudegg picked up a £101,691 salary in his total package of £145,744.

South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council share the cost of their top officers.

The councils’ chief executive David Buckle earned £129,092 in salary, plus £1,115 expenses and £21,300 pension contributions to total £151,507. The chief finance officer’s package was £123,213.

Councillor Matthew Barber said splitting the remunerations bill had saved money.

Cherwell District Council chief executive Sue Smith’s made her package of £112,420, from a £81,458 salary, £5,917 in fees, £6,310 in expenses and a pension of £18,691.

She was the only officer to receive more than £100,000 in the council, which shares costs with South Northamptonshire Council.

Commenting on the city’s packages, Ms Dean said the council could not have achieved recent savings “without attracting an able and dedicated top team.”

TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott said: “Taxpayers will be astonished so many council employees are still getting such a generous deal while everyone else in the public sector is facing a pay freeze.”