34 council staff in Buckinghamshire on over £100k
The Chief Exec of the old Bucks County Council took home over £280,000 last year.
Last updated 8th Apr 2021
The Chief Exec of the old Bucks County Council took home over £280,000 last year.
The latest 'Town Hall Rich List' has been released - for up to last April - with Rachel Shimmin amongst 34 council staff in Buckinghamshire earning over £100k.
Including her pension contribution, Ms Shimmin made £283,021.
The figures for Buckinghamshire include Chiltern, Wycombe and Aylesbury Vale District Councils, as this was just before the merger into the unitary authority.
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
"Taxpayers facing huge and hated council tax rises want to know they are getting value for money from their local authority leadership.
"At the onset of the coronavirus crisis, thousands of town hall officials were taking home huge sums. While councils were plunged into tackling the pandemic, many staff will have more than earned their keep, but households have nevertheless struggled with enormous and unpopular council tax rises.
"These figures shine a light on the town hall bosses who've got it right, and will enable residents to hold those who aren't delivering value for money to account."
Tax Payers' Alliance findings
- The overwhelming majority of people oppose a council tax increase.
- The public are deeply hostile to council tax rises - and this is felt particularly amongst working class audiences.
- 61 per cent of people said they would oppose an above-inflation council tax increase this year, compared to 15 per cent who would support it. By 64 per cent to 16 per cent, C2 voters said they opposed an above-inflation council tax increase, with DEs opposing it by 65 per cent to 8 per cent. ABs opposed it by a much narrower margin of 51 per cent to 25 per cent.
- By 74 per cent to 16 per cent, people think council tax should be frozen or cut. By 81 per cent to 12 per cent, C2s favour a freeze or cut, compared to 74 per cent to 11 per cent for DEs and 68 per cent to 23 per cent for ABs.
- There is little difference between Conservative and Labour voters: by 79 per cent to 15 per cent, Conservative 2019 voters favour a freeze or cut, compared to 72 per cent to 18 per cent for Labour 2019 voters.
There is widespread agreement that there are ways to keep council tax down and maintain good council performance.
- 59 per cent of people support the idea that councils should freeze or cut salaries of senior staff, while 45 per cent of the public also believe that this would have an impact in keeping council tax down.
- Asked about the general effectiveness of the chief executive of their local council, 31 per cent of people didn't know whether they were effective, rising to 39 per cent of DEs.
- 44 per cent of people say their council's performance is average, compared to 28 per cent who say it performs well.
- The top three biggest issues for people as they consider who to vote for in the next local elections will be perceptions of their local council's general competence (36 per cent), how much money they waste (32 per cent) and council tax levels (31 per cent).
Council tax is particularly disliked.
- Given a list of taxes that could go up, just 10 per cent of people said they thought council tax should rise. This compares to 67 per cent for tobacco duties, 53 per cent alcohol duties, 29 per cent inheritance tax, 27 per cent stamp duty and 23 per cent income tax.
- Only the TV licence fee was viewed as less fair. 40 per cent of people said council tax was unfair, compared to 54 per cent saying the TV licence fee, 38 per cent inheritance tax, 34 per cent fuel tax, 25 per cent VAT, and 24 per cent income tax.
- 45 per cent of C2s and 44 per cent of DEs said council tax was unfair, while 42 per cent of 2019 Conservative and Labour voters said it was unfair.
- Asked whether people support a new property tax being brought in to replace council tax, around 30% supported and 28% opposed it.
A spokesperson for Bucks Council said:
"The Taxpayers Alliance figures are unfortunately out of date and refer to the five Bucks councils that have not existed since 1 April 2020. Since then, the ‘new’ unitary Buckinghamshire Council has been in place.
"Having just one council instead of the previous five has resulted in the need for fewer senior management posts. These reductions have resulted in senior staff savings of £1.745m to date and included moving from four chief executives to just one.
"The senior management salaries in the new council, now one of the largest unitary authorities in the country, reflect the responsibility that their roles entail.
"Together, the management structure is responsible for a council with an annual gross budget of more than one billion pounds, bigger than many FTSE 100 companies. Right now, Buckinghamshire Council remains focussed on the fight against COVID-19 and continues to ensure it provides the best possible cost-effectiveness and value for money for the taxpayer in all areas of its operation."