The number of council chiefs earning more than £100,000 is the highest for almost a decade.

The highest paid employee identified in the analysis was an outgoing official from a Hampshire council. Photo: Britpix/Alamy Stock Photo

The number of council chiefs earning more than £100,000 is the highest for almost a decade, and the news comes as council tax rates rise sharply.

Overall A total of 3,106 council staff received six-figure salaries — up 347 on last year. just one year — according to an analysis by the Taxpayers Alliance.

The figures come after council tax rose by more than five per cent earlier this month, with some households paying £5,000 a year for the first time.

It comes as local authorities sharply cut spending on services. and after a series of councils declared effective bankruptcy. It is expected that others will follow.

The highest paid employee identified in the analysis was an outgoing Hampshire council official who warned he could effectively go bankrupt this year and announced museum spending cuts and waste. advice and services for homeless people.

Greenwich Council in London has announced plans to cut street cleaning and get rid of lollipop ladies, despite having the second largest staff with an income of more than £100,000.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, said: “Rather than cutting youth services, as is always the case, these councils should reconsider the inflated salaries of so many officials and start from there.”

p>John O'Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: «Council tax has risen sharply across the country in the new financial year and taxpayers will see senior management pay rise at the same time.»

» Local authorities provide critical services, and residents will want to know they're getting value for money with ever-increasing bills.

“Residents may use these figures to question whether precious funds are really going towards front-line services or whether City Hall bosses could be getting better value for money.”

Council tax has risen sharply across England this year, with the average Band D bill being £2,171 — an extra £106 a year. In the most expensive category H homes, this increases to £4,342. In four authorities, typical bills now exceed £2,500, and for band H it is £5,000.

Dozens of town halls have been forced to cut services in the past year, such as fortnightly rubbish collections or dimming street lights .

Others, notably Birmingham, have had to declare de facto bankruptcy by issuing a section 114 notice.

The number of council employees earning more than £100,000 in 2022-23 was the highest since 2013-14. Of those 3,106 people, 829 received at least £150,000 — 108 more than the previous year. At least 175 received more than £200,000.

About 59 councils failed to report in 2022-23, and the Taxpayers' Alliance estimates the number of staff receiving more than £100,000 could therefore , reach 3637.

In 2013-14, 3,483 council staff received six-figure salaries, although the alliance noted that more councils then gave it their accounts.

The highest paid council employee last year was Felicity Rowe, former director of culture, community and Business Services at Hampshire Council, which received £651,158 including salary, redundancy pay and a lump sum pension payment.

The second highest earner was John Metcalfe, who stepped down as Cumbria's chief executive when its board was abolished. He received £586,134.

The TaxPayers' Alliance list shows the local authority with the largest number of staff receiving at least £100,000 in total remuneration was Westminster, in central London, with 60 staff — 10 more than the previous year.

Followed by Greenwich with 47 and Southwark with 46. The highest performers outside the capital were Essex with 45 and Glasgow with 42. Glasgow has the most people earning over £100,000 in Scotland, despite planning cut 450 teacher jobs over the next decade.

Kent City Council, which has £100,000 more staff than anywhere else in the south east except London, will start charging for school transport for over-16s with special educational needs.

Northumberland has raised its council charges and annual garden waste collection charges, despite employing £100,000 more staff than any other council in the north east.

A Hampshire council spokesman said : «Total remuneration allocated to Ms Rowe Hampshire County Council's 2022-23 report details both the salary (including benefits) she received up to 31 December 2022 and the loss of position compensation she received.» when she left her local authority job following a restructuring, and a pension contribution which was made to Hampshire Pension Fund and was not paid directly to Ms Rowe.

“This pension contribution recognizes that when redundancies Under certain circumstances, an employee has the right to early release from pension. Ms Rowe's post has been removed as part of a restructuring.