Four officers at CEC paid more than £100,000, according to TPA report

Four officers at Cheshire East Council were paid more than £100,000 each in the 2020-21 financial year, writes Belinda Ryan.

The council also paid out nearly £250,000 in relation to one former staff member for redundancy and pension strain costs.

Figures released by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), for the financial year April 2020 – April 2021, show the council’s chief executive Lorraine O’Donnell (pictured) was the top earner on a salary of £155,175.

Next on the list was the deputy chief executive – also the director of place – and he earned £146,834.

The council’s executive director of people earned £119,274.

This was for 10 months, as he left at the end of January 21.

The executive director of corporate services earned £119,955.

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said: “We are aware of national media reports about senior local authority officers’ earnings.

“The figures quoted by the TaxPayers’ Alliance are a combination of salary, expenses and pension benefits.

“Very few staff receive a salary of £100,000 or more.

“Cheshire East Council, along with other authorities, pays the necessary market rate to attract the right people with the required skills and experience.

“Following a number of restructures, senior managers have also taken on much wider responsibilities, while continuing to deliver frontline services and value for money for residents.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has checked the figures in the council’s own statement of accounts and the four Cheshire East posts referred to include “salary, fees and allowances”.

Expenses and pension benefits are not included.

The council paid an additional £52,604 in pension contributions for the chief executive, £49,834 for the deputy chief executive, £40,434 for the executive director of people and £40,665 for the executive director of corporate services.

One figure on the “rich list” published by the TPA was for £237,500 – and it was listed as “undisclosed” regarding the recipient.

The LDRS asked the council for clarification on this and can now reveal this was not a salary – but a redundancy payment combined with associated pension costs.

A Cheshire East spokesperson said: “The reference to one person in the pay bracket £235,000 – £239,999 relates to the redundancy of a senior officer.

“The amount is made up of the pension strain costs as well as any redundancy payment and pay-in-lieu of notice due.

“Under the Local Government Pension Scheme, an employee who is over the age of 55 years, if made redundant, is entitled to the early release of their pension, without any reduction.

“This means that there is a pension strain cost for the early release of pension. The cost is borne by the council in full in the year of redundancy.”

Nationally, the town hall rich list released by the TPA, shows at least 2,921 people employed by local authorities in 2020-21 received more than £100,000 in total remuneration, an increase of 119 on 2019-20.