A POLITICIAN has slammed the “grossly inflated” salaries paid to council chiefs.
Wrexham and Flintshire councils chief executives picked up more than £130,000 last year but North Wales AM Antoinette Sandbach says the pay packets are hard to justify.
Colin Everett, who heads Flintshire Council, was paid a total of £171,543 in 2010-11, which includes £31,279 in pension contributions and pay for his roles as returning officer and clerk to the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority.
Wrexham Council paid out £133,247, including pension contributions of £24,207, in respect of its chief executive post over the same period.
Former chief Isobel Garner resigned in December 2010 and her role was filled on an interim basis by the authority’s three strategic and performance directors.
Ms Sandbach said the salaries of some senior employees are “difficult to justify.”
“From the publicly available figures we have obtained, 29 employees in Conwy
County Borough Council earn over £70,000 per annum, as do 23 in Flintshire, 11 in Gwynedd, 23 in Wrexham, 19 in Denbighshire, and 13 in Anglesey, she said.
“How can these figures be explained to council tax payers in these current harsh economic times when households are having to tighten their belts and are seeing their public services squeezed?”
The figures come as both Wrexham and Flintshire councils are preparing to make budget cuts in the region of £3.5 million in 2012-13.
Flintshire council leader Arnold Woolley said senior officers’ earnings had remained about the same level for several years.
“I know the efforts and hours that go into these jobs,” he said.
“I believe we are getting good value for money. We have a good team who have got a lot of work to do.
“The executive and scrutiny committees ensure our officers perform and hold them to account if they do not.”
Cllr Woolley said similar roles in the private sector could draw significantly higher salaries.
Flintshire Council’s head of human resources Helen Stappleton said salary banding for the role of chief executive had not been reviewed since 2007
She said: “There are additional pay elements relating to other duties such as acting as returning officer and for rendering certain services to the North Wales Fire Service, but these will vary year to year and do not form part of the basic salary.
“Our chief executive has voluntarily deferred increments in his pay band to which he is entitled and has forgone reclaiming in-county mileage, subsistence and other costs as a personal contribution to efficiency savings during a time of extremely restricted public finance.
“The chief executive’s position does not attract performance related pay or significant fringe benefits unlike similar positions in other public and private sector organisations.”
Wrexham Council said information about senior officers’ pay was freely available on its website and current chief Helen Paterson is paid £105,000 a year.
A council spokeswoman said: “The chief executive is also the returning officer for Wrexham and Clwyd South and has overall responsibility for the conduct of elections.
“Although appointed by the council, the role of the returning officer is distinct and separate from their duties as an employee of the council.
“The fees payable in this role are variable and mainly prescribed by central government.
“The chief executive, as with most other local government employees, is entitled to be a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme.”