COUNCIL bosses in the Royal Borough and Westminster have been slammed by tax payers, after being named the highest paid in the country.
Chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea Derek Myers and Westminster's former boss Peter Rogers earned £225,000 and £205,000 respectively in 2007-8, once performance related pay and bonuses were taken into account.
This placed them number four and seven in a top ten of highly-paid council chiefs, according to the think tank , the TaxPayers' Alliance.
A total nine Kensington and Chelsea officials earned more than £100,000 a year. The figure in Westminster was a staggering 21. In Hammersmith and Fulham it was just six.
The information, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, has enraged interest groups.
Grassroots coordinator of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, Tim Aker, said: “Taxpayers in Kensington and Chelsea should be very concerned that year after year more of their council tax goes towards feathering the nests of the council top brass.
“The fact that Derek Myers earns more than the Prime Minister is financially unsustainable and morally indefensible.
“Kensington and Chelsea must give assurances that they’re going to rein in executive pay and help ratepayers in Kensington and Chelsea weather the financial storm.”
But councils have defended the pay packages, claiming it is worth it.
Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Cllr Merrick Cockell, said: “Coming from a business background, I know value for money when I see it and that is just what we are getting.
“This salary is performance related and we place high demands on our chief executive."
A spokesman for Westminster Council said: "As chief executive Peter Rogers helped the council deliver over £20 million savings in efficiencies - double our Government target.
"If you want to employ the best then you have to be prepared to pay competitive salaries and our executives are worth every penny.”
