Nine town hall executives now earn more than £100k in Blackpool

The total is for remuneration packages earned by the town hall's senior management team and includes pension benefits and other bonuses such as election fees.

Chief executive Neil Jack took home a salary of £141,297, but a total package of £162,117 when other payments including pension are included.

The figures are contained in the council's accounts for 2018/19 which were approved last November, but have been highlighted by pressure group The Taxpayer's Alliance (TPA) as part of its annual Town Hall Rich List published on today (April 15).

Three further directors earn salaries of more than £100,000 including director of resources Steve Thompson (£106,687) and director of public health Dr Arif Rajpura (115,908), going up to £119,822 and £137,538 respectively when pensions are added.

Five further directors earn total packages taking them over £100,000.

The total outlay of £1,061,053 is up from £959,012 the previous year.

The council said the payments were in line with similar councils and reflected the need to attract the best people to run the town.

A Blackpool Council spokesperson said: “The salaries of council officers are independently reviewed and bench marked against the salaries of other unitary authorities.

“In 2018/19 there were nine employees whose total remuneration package came to more than £100,000.

“Blackpool Council is a unitary authority which means we have the responsibility to provide more than 150 key services to a local population of around 140,000 residents which includes key priorities such as children’s and adult social care, public health provision and environmental services.

“In addition, Blackpool has significant challenges across many areas and the council is leading on the large-scale regeneration of the town.

"It is vitally important that the authority can attract and retain staff with a proven background who can achieve our long-term ambitions and deliver services for the well-being of our residents.”

Fylde and Wyre councils each had one employee earning more than £100,000, in each case the chief executive.

They are district authorities, while Blackpool is a unitary authority meaning it runs all its own services.

The TPA research covering councils across the UK found 2,667 council employees who received total remuneration in excess of £100,000, up by 226 from the previous year.

Almost a dozen senior officers at Lancashire County Council earned over £100,000 for their work during 2018/19, according to the figures.

The highest-earning local government official at any Lancashire authority was County Hall’s chief executive Angie Ridgwell, whose salary amounted to £206,000. She also fulfils the role of director of resources and did not receive any pension benefits for the year in question.

There are ten other officers at the county council whose remuneration ranged from £109,000 to £160,000.

The latter figure was the combined pay and pension package received by the authority’s second-highest earner, executive director of adult services and health and wellbeing Louise Taylor - who is responsible for the service area which accounts for the largest share of Lancashire County Council’s budget.

Three of the highest-earning officers are not identified either by name or role in the published data. Another three have a basic salary of below £100,000, but appear on the list because their pension contributions pushed them above that amount overall.

A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: "Senior officers’ pay is intended to reflect their responsibilities, skills, and experience and ensure the best people possible are in these key positions.

"The senior management structure of the county council has been streamlined in recent years, which has also put us in a much better position to deal with the present COVID-19 crisis."

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "The coronavirus crisis means frontline council services are more crucial than ever, but at the same time household budgets face an enormous squeeze from crushing council tax rises.

"There are plenty of talented people in local authorities who are focused on delivering more for less, but that is needed across the board."

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