'Council bosses shouldn't be paid more than the PM': call to curb salaries at new Lancashire authorities

The chief executives that will run Lancashire's four new super councils should not be paid more than the Prime Minister, a current county councillor has said.

Michael Lavalette - an independent member of the Progressive Lancashire opposition group at County Hall - is also calling for the wages of the most senior office-holder at each of the authorities to be capped at a fixed number of times above those of the lowest-paid member of staff.

Lancashire’s 15 main councils are being axed as part of a government-ordered shake-up. Their successors - when they take over in April 2028 - will deliver all local authority services in their sprawling new areas, meaning they will have more responsibilities than most of the councils they replace.

County Cllr Lavalette fears that will cause what he believes are already overly-inflated pay packets to balloon yet further - beyond even the £182,000 salary to which the PM is entitled. That is a wage already topped by two existing council chiefs in the county.

“[This isn’t] personal, but I'm sure most people cannot understand why the chief executive of a local authority gets paid more than the Prime Minister - how can that be justified?” he asked.

“Plus, if somebody's earning that much money, they have no experience of what ordinary people in Lancashire are going through in terms of things like the cost-of- living crisis.

“They are in charge of organisations that make decisions - and potentially cut spending - on services like social care, but don’t know what it’s like to rely on them,” said County Cllr Lavalette, who represents the Preston Central East division, and was speaking to The Gazette in his capacity as a member of the Preston Independents.

A local authority chief executive’s role is non-political, but involves giving effect to policy decisions made by elected councillors.

The Lancashire council bosses who currently earn more than the occupant of Number 10 are the chief executive of Lancashire County Council, Mark Wynn, who receives £249,843, and his counterpart at Blackburn with Darwen Council, Denise Park, whose salary is £183,167. They are followed by Blackpool Council chief executive Neil Jack on £169,143.

The county council is one of the largest local authorities in England, responsible for the likes of adult and children’s social care, highways and schools across all parts of Lancashire except Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen. The latter two areas are covered by standalone councils known as ‘unitaries’ - the same type of all-purpose authority that the forthcoming new North Lancashire, South Lancashire, Pennine Lancashire and Fylde Coast councils will be.

The other 12 existing councils in the county are district authorities which take care of services such as waste collection, housing, parks and planning in each of their respective patches. The pay of their chief executives pay ranges from between £109,021 and £114,961 for Adrian Phillips at Preston City Council to £163,238 for the joint chief executive of Chorley and South Ribble councils, Chris Sinnott, who has also taken on responsibility for West Lancashire Borough Council since the latest pay rates were published.

County Cllr Lavalette believes the shift to a unitary system will put upward pressure on bosses’ salaries and would like to see them pegged to a multiple of the wages of the staff on the bottom rung of the pay ladder.

“There needs to be a cross-party debate [about the exact level], but there should be some way of tagging chief executive pay to the salaries of [others] that work in the council - and also to average salaries locally,” he said, suggesting a similar system should also apply for those working as directors of individual local authority departments and can often earn six-figure sums.

“These are all public officials,” County Cllr Lavalette said.

Published data and analysis by the Post shows that the 15 current Lancashire council chief executives earn between four-and-a-half and nine times the amounts of their lowest-paid colleagues. Preston City Council has the lowest difference between its top and bottom pay grades and Lancashire County Council the highest.

A nationwide review into fair pay in the public sector back in 2011, ruled out a suggested maximum lowest-to-highest pay ratio of even 20:1. Instead, the resultant report, written by economist Will Hutton, recommended organisations publish their top-to-median salary ratios and the full remuneration of all executives.

Several of the existing authorities are accredited by the Living Wage Foundation for paying the so-called ‘real living wage’, which currently stands at £13.45 hour. They are Lancashire County Council, Blackpool Council, Lancaster City Council, Preston City Council, Ribble Valley Borough Council and Rossendale Borough Council.

Chorley and South Ribble councils say they pay the Living Wage Foundation rate to all staff except first-year apprentices, while West Lancashire Borough Council says a “non-consolidated supplement” is paid to staff on spinal column points 2, 3 and 4 on its pay scale to ensure they receive the real living wage.

In response to County Cllr Lavalette’s comments, a spokesperson for Lancashire's 15 councils said of the pay rates at the authorities that will replace them: "It will be for the members of the newly-elected councils to determine the salaries for their senior staff."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said the authority’s salaries “are in line with other similar-sized councils in the country, and appointments are made by full council in transparent public meetings”.

As chief executive at County Hall, Mark Wynn is also leading the ‘implementation team’ that will oversee the establishment of the new councils for Lancashire.

Lancashire council chiefs’ pay league

According to the latest pay policy statements of each authority (unless otherwise stated), these are the basic salaries of the existing Lancashire councils:

1) Lancashire County Council - £249,843 (including lease car cash equivalent)

2) Blackburn with Darwen Council - £183,167

3) Blackpool Council - £169,143

4) Chorley Council - £163,238* (post shared with South Ribble Borough Council)

(-) South Ribble Borough Council - £163,238* (post shared with Chorley Council)

6) Lancaster City Council - £135,456

7) West Lancashire Borough Council - £130,259**

8) Burnley Council - £129,354

9) Fylde Council - £126,905

10) Hyndburn Council - £126,000***

11) Wyre Council - £123,288

12) Ribble Valley Borough - £119,867 (mid-point on pay scale)

13) Pendle Borough Council - £119,588

14) Rossenale Borough Council - £119,533

15) Preston City Council - £109,021 to £114,961 (five-point incremental scale)

*figure prior to role expanding to cover West Lancashire Borough Council, for which a £10,000 “honorarium” is paid

**figure for when authority had a dedicated chief executive, prior to the role being shared with Chorley and South Ribble councils as of mid-2026

***figure for 2024/25 as published in the annual statement of accounts