Harrogate Borough Council officials earning more than £100,000 named on Taxpayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List

The Taxpayers’ Alliance has this week published its Town Hall Rich List which details the salaries of all the top earners at local authorities across the UK during the last financial year.

It shows the four highest paid council officials at Harrogate Borough Council earned a combined total of £468,878 once their individual salaries, expenses and pension contributions were added up.

At the top of the list was director of Harrogate Convention Centre, Paula Lorimer, who received £121,536.

Next up was council chief executive, Wallace Sampson, who was paid £118,505.

He was followed by director of corporate affairs, Rachel Bowles, who has responsibilities including finance, elections and communications, and earned £115,856.

And in fourth place was director of economy and culture, Trevor Watson, who had a total pay packet of £112,981. He has responsibilities for areas including planning, building control, and sports and leisure.

A council spokesman said: “We have always published our senior salaries and our pay policy on our website and have nothing to hide.

"These salaries are in line with those paid by comparable local authorities and are regularly reviewed.”

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Across Yorkshire and the Humber, and for the fourth year running, Leeds City Council was the local authority with the most employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000

The city had 26 staff earn more than this amount, eight more than the previous year.

Looking across the whole of the UK, the local authority with the greatest number of employees whose total pay was in excess of £100,000 was Westminster City Council with 44 employees, nine more than the previous year.

Closer to Harrogate, the local authority to pay out the highest amount in terms of bonuses and performance related pay to a senior employee was Hambleton District Council, with their chief executive receiving a £26,535 bonus.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance claims to speak for “ordinary taxpayers fed up with government waste” and often criticises councils for not providing value for money from tax payments while raising council tax and giving senior staff pay rises.

The campaign group's chief executive John O’Connell said: "Taxpayers facing a cost of living crisis want to know they are getting value for money from their local authority leadership.

"With households having suffered through the pandemic and now struggling under colossal tax bills, the country needs councils to prioritise key services without resorting to punishing tax hikes.

"These figures will allow residents to judge town hall bosses for themselves and hold their local councils to account."

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