Eye-watering figures have revealed exactly how much top-earning executives at your local council took home last year – with one Merseyside official receiving just shy of £570,000.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List has revealed some 43 council staff in our region taking home more than £100,000 per year, during the course of the 2017-18 financial year.

The highest Merseyside wage was paid in Wirral, where the Managing Director for Delivery took home £118,753 in salary, £93,413 in compensation and £357,223 in pension – totalling a huge £569,423. 

According to the rich list, that’s the second highest-earning council official in the entire country, after an interim chief executive in Slough, who earned just over £595,000.

Chief executive Mike Palin was the highest earner in St Helens Council, taking home a salary of £143,000 and £20,000 in pension.

The authority with the largest number of officials earning over £100,000 was Knowsley Council – with 14.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the average council tax bill has “gone through the roof”, but that authorities had responded through tax rises rather than scaling back “top pay”.

He added: “Despite many in the public sector facing a much-needed pay freeze to help bring the public finances under control, many town hall bosses are continuing to pocket huge remuneration packages, with staggering pay-outs for those leaving their jobs.”

Here are the staff earning over £100,000 at your local Merseyside council.

The numbers include salary, expenses, bonuses, compensation for loss of office, employer pension contribution and other payments.

READ > St Helens Council bolsters hierarchy with two major appointments

St Helens Council 

Mike Palin, Chief Executive: £163,000

Strategic Director of People’s Services: £150,000

Deputy Chief Executive and Strategic Director of Corporate Services: £133,000

Strategic Director of Place Services: £131,000

Undisclosed job title: £127,500

Undisclosed job title: £117,500

St Helens Star:

Mike Palin

Knowsley Council 

Mike Harden, Chief Executive: £211,718

Executive Director, Place: £143,802

Assistant Executive Director, Economic Growth: £143,776

Assistant Chief Executive: £139,380

Executive Director, Resources: £139,380

Executive Director, Children: £135,129

Assistant Executive Director, Policy and Partnership: £128,222

Assistant Executive Director, Public Health: £128,222

Assistant Executive Director, Neighbourhoods: £128,222

Assistant Executive Director, Customer and Employees: £128,222

Assistant Executive Director, Childrens Social Care: £118,099

Assistant Executive Director, Early Help: £118,099

Assistant Executive Director, Governance: £118,099

Assistant Executive Director, Adult Social Care: £118,099

Liverpool Council

Ged Fitzgerald, Chief Executive: £238,804

Becky Hellard, Director of Finances and Resource: £204,832

Director of Regeneration and Employment: £171,893

Director of Community Services: £165,208

Assistant Chief Executive: £139,542 Interim

Director of Adult Services and Health: £128,746

Director of Public Health: £121,923 City Solicitor: £106,381

Sefton Council Chief Executive: £173,340

Director of Social Care and Health: £151,592

Executive Director: £138,967

Head of Locality Services – Commissioned: £101,490

Head of Locality Services – Provision: £101,482

Head of Children’s Social Care: £101,461

Head of Regulation and Compliance: £101,447

Head of Corporate Resources: £101,416

Wirral Council

Managing Director for Delivery: £569,423 (£357,223 of this was in pension payments).

Eric Robinson, Chief Executive: £199,962.

Director for Strategy and Partnerships: £162,026

Director of Transformation: £137,871

Director for Care and Health: £130,021 Director for Business Services (Assistant Chief Executive): £128,860

Assistant Director of Finance: £108,526

READ > St Helens Council approves council tax rise

St Helens Star:

What did the councils say?

A spokesman for Wirral Council said: “Details of all chief officer salaries at Wirral are readily available to the public online here.”

He said the council “does not recognise” the “larger figure” in the TPA report, but added: “As a result of a restructure last year a senior member of staff left with a combination of severance payment, cost to the council of pension contributions, and salary owed which was approved by the Employment and Appointments Committee.”

Leader of the opposition Conservative group on Wirral Council, Cllr Ian Lewis, described the figures as “outrageous”, calling for the authority to list all jobs, and full costs, as part of the council tax bill “so that everyone can decide for themselves whether such salaries are justified”.

A spokesman for Liverpool Council said the information is published annually on its website.

He referred the Local Democracy Reporting Service to a statement made in 2010 put out by then-council leader Joe Anderson (who is now Mayor), when it axed 48 of the 74 senior managers’ posts.

At the time, Mayor Anderson said: “We have been hit harder than every other city – despite having some of the most pressing needs in the country.”

St Helens, Knowsley and Sefton Councils were all contacted for comment.