The number of top earners at Brighton and Hove City Council has doubled (From The Argus)

The number of top earners at Brighton and Hove City Council has doubled

8:00am Wednesday 26th August 2009 in

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Seven council fat cats are now being paid salaries in excess of £100,000 a year.

The number of top earners at Brighton and Hove City Council more than doubled in a year, new statistics have revealed.

In the same period the amount of the council budget being taken up by the wages of those earning £50,000 or more rose by at least £1.65million as many were awarded pay rises.

The news has infuriated trade union bosses who are currently fighting to stop pay cuts of up to £8,000 a year being forced on binmen and street sweepers whose average pay is £19,000.

Rob Macey, spokesman for the Brighton and Hove branch of the GMB union, which represents most of the 821 frontline workers effected, said: "This is another kick in the teeth for hard-working staff who are having years of loyalty thrown in their face. It is a case of one rule for one and one for the other."

The figures show that during the 2008/9 financial year the council employed seven staff with salaries higher than £100,000.

Specific wages were not published but the number of employees in each £10,000 pay bracket was given.

They included one, the now retired chief executive Alan McCarthy, in the £170,000 to £180,000 bracket, and six more with salaries between £100,000 and £130,000.

In 2007/8 there were only three top earners, Mr McCarthy, whose salary was then between £160,000 and £170,000, and two others receiving between £100,000 and £110,000.

There was also an increase in the number of staff earning between £50,000 and £100,000, from 199 in 2007/8 to 218 in 2008/9.

It total the amount paid to all those with a salary of £50,000 of higher was a minimum of £11.34million in 2007/8, based on the lowest wage in each bracket. In 2008/9 the figure rose to £12.99million, an increase of £1.65million.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, leader of the council's opposition Labour group, called for a review of pay structure for the council management in light of the cuts the workforce were facing. She said a division was opening up between the levels.

She said: "Any increase in pay at the top end of the council has to be firmly linked to performance. We must be able to demonstrate that tax-payers are getting good value for those types of salaries."

The council yesterday said it was unable to give the names of the top earners.

In the past the highest salaries have been received by the directors of the council's six main departments along with headteachers of the city's largest schools.

The directors include Jenny Rowlands, responsible for environment, Di Smith, of the children and young people's trust, Joy Hollister, for adult social care and housing, Scott Marshall, culture and enterprise, Catherine Vaughan, finance and resources, and Anthony Zacharzewski, strategy and governance.