Fourteen members of BCP Council staff received annual remuneration of more than £100,000, according to the latest Taxpayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List.
Chief executive Graham Farrant was the top earner on the list at BCP Council for the 2021/22 financial year with a salary of £191,479 – up from £188,649 reported the previous year.
Other high earners where job titles were disclosed included corporate director for resources (overall remuneration including pension of £147,563), director of law and governance (£144,029), director of finance (£136,671), director of adult social care and director of commissioning (both £132,708) and the chief operations officer (£112,184).
None of the BCP Council officers included on the list were named apart from Mr Farrant.
Seven members of staff had their job titles listed as not specified. This included one employee with a salary of £142,500.
A spokesperson for BCP Council said: “All senior staff salaries are comparative with other public sector organisations of a similar size. Pay and remuneration is determined objectively using various job evaluation factors, including the skills and knowledge required to deliver the job effectively.
“Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is responsible for a diverse portfolio of services and employs over 5,000 people in a large urban conurbation.
“It is imperative that our council is able to attract and retain high-quality talent to ensure we are able to achieve our ambitious agenda for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and be the best we can be for our communities.”
Dorset Council had 23 members of staff with remuneration of more than £100,000 – the most for the south west region.
This included chief executive Matt Prosser, who had a salary of £173,000 and a £29,000 pension contribution.
Other named officers included four executive directors with a total remuneration of £170,000 – Aidan Dunn, Vivienne Broadhurst, John Sellgren and Theresa Leavy. It also featured director of public health Sam Crowe, whose total pay package for the year was £157,000.
The remaining 17 Dorset Council entries on the list had names and job titles not disclosed, excluding the monitoring officer.
A Dorset Council spokesperson said it published chief officer salary figures each February during the budget setting as a commitment to be “open, accessible and accountable” with transparency on salary costs.
“Dorset Council is one of the largest councils in the country – a unitary authority, responsible for both district and county council functions,” the spokesperson said.
“Many areas of England still have the two-tier system with both county and district and borough councils. Therefore, it is unrealistic to compare a large unitary council like Dorset Council with small district councils serving much smaller populations with a narrower range of services and statutory responsibilities.
“The size, complexity and statutory responsibility of Dorset Council are reflected in chief officer salaries. Councillors set chief officer salaries having benchmarked them against other similar-sized authorities. The terms and conditions and annual cost of living pay increases are negotiated and set nationally.”
The spokesperson added that “significant” staffing cost savings had been made since the councils merger in 2019.
The authority had saved £10m every year since 2019/20 by reducing chief officer posts.
Nationally, at least 2,759 people employed by local authorities in 2021/22 received more than £100,000 in total remuneration.
The report found 721 received more than £150,000, 46 more than the previous year.
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