THE Chief Executive of Bradford Council was paid a salary of £182,000 last year, according to a report on the country's highest paid Council employees.

Kersten England is the most senior figure on Bradford Council, and also the authority's highest paid.

New figures released by the Taxpayers Alliance reveal that she was one of six Bradford Council employees to earn a basic salary of over £100,000 in the 2917/18 year.

Bradford Council has pointed out that Mrs England is in charge of a council with a budget of over £1 billion, and is responsible for over 8,000 employees, and says it needs to offer "competitive pay" for the key role.

The figures were released as part of the Taxpayer's Alliance's "city Hall rich list" which revealed the interim Chief Executive of Slough Council was the highest paid Council employee in the country, earning £595,000 last year.

It also finds Essex Council had 55 employees earning over £100,000.

Mrs England also earned £34,000 in pension contributions, according to the figures.

The other roles on Bradford Council that paid salaried of over £100,000 were Strategic Director - Children's Services (£139,223), Strategic Director Health and Wellbeing (£184,083), Strategic Director of Place (£133,755), Director of Public Health (£103,287) and Strategic Director - Corporate Services (£113,403).

At the start of the month the Chief Executive's salary was increased to £189,419, which the Council says is "in accordance with the nationally agreed pay award as determined by the national Joint Negotiating Committee for Chief Executives of Local Authorities."

The Council's pay policy statement for the coming year reveals that the lowest paid workers in the Council will earn £17,364 a year and that the median average annual salary for Council workers will be £21,166. It means the Chief Executive will earn 8.9 times the average annual wage of employees.

When the figures were announced, some reports said Mrs England was the highest paid Council employee in Yorkshire. However, this has been disputed by the Council.

A spokesperson said: “The figures don’t compare like with like. For example, they include a payment to our Chief Executive for acting as the returning officer in elections but this information isn’t included for other authorities like Leeds whose Chief Executive was reportedly paid over £27,000 for these responsibilities.

“Bradford is the fifth largest metropolitan district council in the country with a gross budget of over £1 billion and a workforce of more than 8,000 staff delivering vital public services to over half a million residents and 17,000 businesses.

“The Chief Executive’s total pay package is in line with similar sized local authorities reflecting the responsibilities of the position and also includes employer pension contributions.

“We must offer competitive pay if we are to attract and retain the high quality talent and leadership that the people of the district deserve.

“Senior management costs are however kept under constant review and recent years have seen significant savings being made.”