A town hall rich list has sparked uproar after claiming that at least 2,525 council staff, including 88 in the West, have received more than £100,000 in payments.
The annual list, compiled by the Taxpayers Alliance, shows the total remuneration local authority personnel have received in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.
But councils say the list is inaccurate and misleading. They argue that some entries on the list include one-off redundancy packages where the staff concerned earned well under £100,000 as an annual salary.
The report shows an 11 per cent drop in total remuneration of more than £100,000 on the previous year.
Taunton Deane Borough Council is one of four listed as increasing the number of staff receiving more than £100,000 in 2011-12; in its case from one to seven.
But yesterday the authority said: "Only one employee at Taunton Deane Borough Council earns more than £100,000 a year in salary. That has not changed in the two years covered by the Taxpayers' Alliance report – 2010-11 and 2011-12.
"In 2011-12 the council and its Direct Labour Organisation underwent restructures. As a result a number of long-serving staff received redundancy payments. These, together with 'pension strain' payments made under the Local Government Pension Scheme to the pension fund and their salary added up to sums in excess of £100,000. The quoted figures were a combination of one-off payments to the individuals and the Pension Fund. The restructures have led to savings and the measures were set out in a business case which was approved by the council and remains a matter of public record."
The list shows Andrew Kerr, who lost his chief executive's job when Wiltshire Council made his post redundant, at number 19 in a list of the 20 employees with the highest remuneration in the country in 2011-12. His salary is listed as having been £114,448, with compensation for loss of job £187,102, other payments £9,749 and pension contributions – adding up to £328,150
According to the report, the highest paid across the UK was Katherine Kerswell, former group managing director of Kent County Council. Her total remuneration including redundancy was said to be £589,165.
Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the alliance, said: "It is good news that the number of senior council staff making more than £100,000 a year is finally falling, although that may only be because many authorities have finished paying eye-watering redundancy bills. Sadly, too many local authorities are still increasing the number of highly-paid staff on their payroll, some of whom are given hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation just to move from one public sector job to another."
Gloucestershire County Council is listed as having increased the number of people to whom it paid £100,000 from eight to nine.
A spokeswoman said: "The figures are wrong. We had nine senior nine posts with a remuneration package of £100,000 or more in 2010-11 and we still have nine now, nothing has changed. In 2010-11, we put in place a new management structure with 30 per cent fewer senior posts, saving the council around £800,000 per year. Whilst the salaries of the senior management may still seem a lot, they are not the highest paid in local government and nowhere near the salary range of similar jobs in the private sector. The county council is one of Gloucestershire's biggest employers and together the top team is responsible for an £800 million budget, delivering services to 600,000 people. There has been a senior management pay freeze since 2008 and this will continue."
Bath and North East Council, which is reported as increasing from six to nine, said it had seven staff with salaries over £100,000 in 2011-12 and the number is now six. It has also cut the chief executive's salary by around 10 per cent and further restructuring will follow in years to come.
The council said: "In order to support our priorities of protecting frontline services, investing in new homes and jobs for local people, and no increases in council tax, the council is reducing senior management costs and becoming more efficient."
Cheltenham City Council – shown up from four to five – said that based on salary it has one post relevant to the list.
