London council has most employees earning over £100K in the country

By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

The local authority with the most employees earning more than £100,000 has been named and a London council took the top spot.

Westminster City council had 50 employees earning more than six figures between 2021 and 2022 – six more than the previous year.

According to the research, Westminster City’s chief bureaucrat, Stuart Love, also bagged a generous pay packet of  £276,000.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance looked at the take-home pay, pension pots, perks and bonuses of thousands of council employees across the UK and estimated at least 2,759 in the country received more than £100,000 in total remuneration, of which 721 earned £150,000 or more.

It said the way employee remuneration is reported varies significantly from council to council and warned the total number of big earners could be much higher.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers facing record council tax rises want to be sure they are getting value for money from their local authority leadership.

“Many authorities continue with extremely generous pay and perks, including bonuses and golden goodbyes, while local people are facing a financial squeeze.

“Residents can use these figures to hold their local town hall bosses to account.”

Westminster City council disputes the figures and claimed only 42 employees earned over the threshold.

Chief executive, Stuart Love, said: “Westminster City council is a high-profile local authority with unique responsibilities at the heart of the capital.

“As such, we need to recruit the best talent for managing within a complex organisation whose work involves partnership with central government, the multi-billion economy of the West End and supporting around a quarter of a million residents.

“The salaries paid reflect the skills needed to lead the authority.”

Pictured top: Westminster City council offices in Victoria Street (Picture: Google Street View)