The employees of Reading Borough Council who are taking home a six-figure sum every year have been revealed as the ‘Town Hall Richlist’ report has been published.
Each year, the TaxPayers Alliance publishes its ‘Town Hall Richlist’ to keep track of council employees earning more than £100,000 per annum.
This involves compiling data from councils across the UK.
Five council staff in Reading earn six-figure salaries.
Jackie Yates, the chief executive of the council, earns £177,942 per annum.
This means that she was paid £5,789 more than Rishi Sunak, who served as Prime Minister from 2023/24, and had a salary entitlement of £172,153 that year.
By comparison, the chief executive of Wokingham Borough Council earned £172,939 and the chief executive of West Berkshire Council earned £161,087.
The highest-earning council official in Berkshire is Susan Halliwell, the chief executive of Bracknell Forest Council, who earned £204,000 in 2023/24.
The second highest-paid official at Reading Borough Council is Charlie Stewart, the executive director of resources, who earned £146,423 that year.
Officials appointed to executive director roles were the highest earners, as they are in charge of running departments, managing staff and devising policies for council approval.
Melissa Wise, who was appointed the executive director of communities and adult social care in September 2023 earned £135,985.
Meanwhile, the executive director of children’s services earned £127,386 in 2023/24, and the director of finance earned £127,255 that year as well.
The salaries of all of the council’s senior officers are published on a council web page.
The executive director of children’s services is Lara Patel, who was appointed by Brighter Futures for Children, the council’s children’s services company in February 2023.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It’s a record-breaking year in many respects for taxpayers as the country hurtles towards a record tax burden, all while the public sector continues to feather its nest.
“As our latest town hall rich list demonstrates, the number of council staff with six-figure remuneration packages has surged at the same time that services are being slashed and council tax is being hiked above inflation.
“Local residents can look up their own authority in our list and judge the quality of services and their council tax bill against the pay packets of their council bosses.”
Councillors in Reading approved a 4.99 per cent council tax increase at a meeting in February.
The new council tax rate came into effect on Tuesday, April 1.
A spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said: “Reading Council publishes its senior manager structure on its website as a matter of course. The salaries paid are benchmarked and in line with other local authorities of a similar size.
“Director level posts are responsible for numerous public services delivered locally to many thousands of residents across Reading.
“They additionally include key roles which require specialist knowledge and experience, such as responsibility for children’s social care, public health and finance for example.
“It is important salaries are set at a level that attracts and retains staff with the required skills, knowledge and experience to ensure vital public services are delivered to our communities.”
Wider research from the TaxPayers Alliance found that 238 council employees received a higher salary than Mr Sunak, who was the PM at the time.
A total of 15 councils did not provide the TaxPayers Alliance with 2023/24 accounts for scrutiny.
