Report reveals nine staff earning more than £100,000 at Sunderland City Council

The number of Sunderland City Council employees earning more than £100,000 a year is revealed today.
Sunderland Civic CentreSunderland Civic Centre
Sunderland Civic Centre

The Taxpayers’ Alliance ‘Town Hall Rich List’ shows the authority had nine employees whose remuneration package ran to six figures in 2016-17, led by the former Executive Director of Commercial Development, who received a total of £276,247.

A city council spokesman said the authority’s wage levels reflected the responsibilities involved: “The City Council is responsible for delivering hundreds of services, and because of these major social and legal responsibilities, senior salaries, including pensions and benefits, can reflect this.”

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Other top earners include the council’s executive director of people’s services, whose package totalled £133,739; the director of strategy, partnerships and transformation, on a total of £117,599, and executive director of children’s services, whose combined salary and pension were worth £111,788.

The council’s head of law and governance was in line to receive £103,524 and director of public health £101,145.

Three other roles, marked as ‘unknown,’ were worth £137,500; £132,500 and £122,500 respectively.

The report also shows Durham County Council had 13 employees earning more than £100,000, headed by chief executive Terry Collins, on a total £208,338.

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Head of finance and transactional services Paul Darby said: “Since 2009 there has been a significant reduction in management across the authority and a pay freeze existed up until 2017.”

Taxpayers’ Alliance chief executive John O’Connell said: “There are talented people in the public sector who are trying to deliver more for less, but the sheer scale of these packages raise serious questions.”