Revealed: Which west London councils pay the most staff members £100,000 or more each year

Councils in west London are paying dozens of staff £100,000 or more every year, new statistics from the TaxPayers' Alliance show.

The alliance released its yearly figures on Tuesday (April 11) compiling the local authority employees whose remuneration is at or exceeds the £100,000 mark.

Statistics show Brent and Westminster councils jointly pay the most staff the high sum, with 20 employees receiving at least that much.

Westminster actually reduced its £100,000-plus payouts between 2015 and 2016 from 26 to 20, while Brent remained the same.

Hillingdon Council follows not far behind with 19 employees hitting or exceeding the mark, a reduction of three on 2014/15.

While Hounslow Council has only 12 members of staff on at least £100,000 last year, but the TaxPayers' Alliance have revealed that this has increased from just nine the year before – the 17th biggest rise in the country.

Ealing and Harrow also have relatively low numbers of staff above the £100,000 mark both with 10 in 2015/16.

These two councils have also reduced their numbers in recent years, down from 15 for Ealing and 18 for Harrow in 2014/15.

Local authority	Staff on £100k+ in 2014/15	Staff on £100k+ in 2015/16
Brent	20	20
Westminster	26	20
Hillingdon	22	19
Hounslow	9	12
Ealing	15	10
Harrow	18	10

Chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, John O'Connell, said: “The average council tax bill has gone up by more than £900 over the last 20 years and spending has gone through the roof.

“Disappointingly, many local authorities are now responding to financial reality through further tax rises and reducing services rather than scaling back top pay.

“Despite many in the public sector facing a much-needed pay freeze to help bring the public finance under control, many town hall bosses are continuing to pocket huge remuneration packages, with the number of people on six-figure deals actually going up since last year.”

Mr O'Connell added: “There are talented people in the public sector who are trying to deliver more for less, but the sheer scale of these packages raises serious questions about efficiency and priorities.”

Across London, Southwark Borough Council tops the list with 45 employees exceeding £100k, while Kingston upon Thames Chief Executive Bruce McDonald received a payout of £387,000 last year.

The highest payout in 2015/16 was at Sunderland local authority to Chief Executive Dave Smith, who took home £625,000, according to the alliance.

The leader of Harrow Council, Cllr Sachin Shah said: “We have reduced the numbers of senior managers saving millions from our budget in recent years.

“There are now 10 members staff paid over £100,000, compared to a few years ago as shown in the report by the TaxPayers' Alliance.

“We have also made significant efficiency savings and reduced waste to ensure taxpayers money goes into funding vital services - not wages.

“In the face of reduced funding from government we have also been successful in generating additional incomes by selling our services to other councils, which includes our legal services.”

Cllr Tim Mitchell, Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Corporate Services at Westminster Council, said: “We are always ever mindful of how we spend every penny of public money.

"But with the support of our high calibre of staff, Westminster City Council is able to set the lowest Band D council tax in the country whilst delivering nationally acclaimed services and record resident satisfaction, against the backdrop of ongoing austerity and hundreds of millions of pounds in savings in our budget since 2010.”

Statistics also revealed that 2,314 council employees were paid at least £100,000 – 89 more than the previous year.

A Hillingdon Council spokesman said: ""Hillingdon Council continues to work hard to put residents first and to deliver value for money - with Council Tax frozen for nine years for all, eleven for residents over 65 and no Social Care Precept levied.

"Unlike other councils Hillingdon has not cut service provision as others have done. The organisation is a complex one that delivers hundreds of services to residents, and like all local authorities requires experienced and highly capable officers who are required to make important and sometimes difficult decisions.

"Salaries are in line with those offered by other councils and comply with the council's pay policy."

A Brent Council spokesperson said: “We are transparent about our rates of pay for senior managers which are in line with similar roles across the public and private sector and two years ago we reduced the size of the senior management team saving £1.4m per year”

Getwestlondon has approached Hounslow, and Ealing councils for comment.