THE top earners at Herefordshire Council have been revealed in this year's Town Hall Rich List.

Published by the Taxpayers' Alliance, a right-wing pressure group formed in 2004 to campaign for lower taxation and public spending, the list shows some council staff took home six-figure salaries and other compensation in the year 2022-23.

The Town Hall Rich List, first compiled in 2007, assembles the most comprehensive list of council employees in the UK in receipt of over £100,000 in total remuneration in a single financial year.

Herefordshire's top earners

In Herefordshire, the council's chief executive Paul Walker was paid £159,000, up from £143,000 the previous year, the list reveals.

The corporate director of children and young people and the corporate director of economy and environment both received a salary of £135,000, with each also receiving pension contributions of £24,000.

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The director of resources and assurance/section 151 officer received £110,000, with pension contributions of £19,000 pushing their total to £129,000, while the corporate director of community wellbeing received £105,000, with pension contributions of £19,000 bringing their total to £124,000.

Earning a salary of just under the £100,000 mark was the director of public health, who took home a salary of £99,000, while pension contributions of £17,000 pushed their total to £116,000.

And the director of human resources and organisational development received a salary of £92,000 with a £16,000 pension contribution bringing their total to £108,000.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said the pay, terms and conditions of employment for certain directors and senior managers is determined by the democratically elected members on the council’s employment panel.

"Employment panel meetings are held in public and minutes can be found on the council website," the spokesperson said.

"Subsequent pay awards are agreed nationally between local government representatives and trades unions."

You can view more information from Herefordshire Council's employment panel by clicking here.

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Council tax cost

The Taxpayers' Alliance said that for the average (band D) property in England, council tax will rise by 5.1 per cent, or an extra £106, in 2024-25.

In Herefordshire, the average council tax bill for a band D dwelling is £1,954.79, up from £1,862.50 in 2023. This includes the council’s own tax charge of £1,875.76 (for a band D dwelling), approved by full council on February 9, 2024, the precept for the Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia of  £277.50, up from £264.50, and the precept for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority of £97.22, up from £94.40.

National picture

Nationally, at least 3,106 council employees received more than £100,000 in total remuneration, of which 829 received £150,000 or more, the Taxpayers' Alliance said.

But Herefordshire's staffing bill looks like pennies compared to the amount paid to the country's highest remunerated council employee, the now former director of culture, community and business services at Hampshire Council, Felicity Roe, who received £651,158 including a pension payment of £409,822, loss of office payment of £121,203 and salary of £120,133.