‘Rich list’ shows 7-figure pay deals for city officials

It claims the city council paid 12 members of staff remuneration packages of more than £100,000 during 2010 and 2011.

Director of children and families Gillian Tee heads the list with £169,655.

Tee, who is charged with driving up school standards and protecting vulnerable children, succeeded Roy Jobson to the role in June 2007.

Next in line is former chief executive Tom Aitchison, who was replaced by Sue Bruce in December 2010, He received £164,717, according to the report compiled by the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

Director of city development Dave Anderson, director of corporate services Jim Inch, finance boss Donald McCougan and Mark Turley, director for communities, each received £148,971 and head of social work Michelle Miller received £117,142.

Glasgow City Council executive director of special projects Ian Drummond topped the UK list with £450,628, which included his redundancy deal.

The study revealed that UK-wide 3097 local authority employees were awarded deals worth six figures in 2010-11, a rise of 13 per cent on the previous year.

It also found 658 staff across the UK earned between £150,000 and £249,999, while 52 broke the £250,000 mark.

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be astonished that so many council employees are still getting such a generous deal while everyone else in the public sector is facing a pay freeze. As millions of voters across the country prepare for local council elections, it is vital that they can make an informed choice about which local authorities are delivering value for money.

“The Town Hall Rich List shows that while councils insist cuts can only mean pressure on frontline services, some clearly have cash in the bank when it comes to paying their own senior staff.

“These council executives must ensure they have the moral authority to lead necessary spending cuts, in many cases that will mean taking a pay cut themselves. Households have seen their Council Tax bills double over the last decade and deserve better value.”

However, Scottish councils condemned the list as misleading, claiming that the overall figures contained redundancy payments and retirement contributions which go to pensions funds and not directly to the individual.