Don't raise taxes cut council salaries, says Tax Payers Alliance
The TPA says in light of high wages for executives and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Council Tax should not be going up
Last updated 6th Apr 2021
The number of public officials across the UK getting paid more than £100,000 a year was on the rise pre-pandemic.
That's according to figures put out by the Tax Payers Alliance (TPA) today to argue councils are not using their money wisely and so council tax should not rise.
There is some controversy around the figures though, with Bristol City Council telling us they are badly out of date and should be ignored.
All the data comes from the Alliance's 2021 Town Hall Rich List as the average band D property in England faces a 4.4 percent council tax rise.
"At the onset of the coronavirus crisis, the number of council staff receiving more than £100,000 had increased by 135 to at least 2,802 people, with 693 receiving over £150,000 (26 more than the previous year)," a press release from the TPA reads.
"While councils were plunged into tackling the pandemic, households have faced crushing council tax rises, leading taxpayers to question whether their council’s leadership have delivered good value for money.
"New public opinion data released alongside Town Hall Rich List 2021 finds the overwhelming majority of people oppose council tax increases by a 4-to-1 margin, with working class voters considerably more opposed.
"The recent polling found widespread agreement that there were ways to help keep council tax down, including 59 per cent of respondents believing that councils should freeze or cut salaries of senior staff. "
In a large spreadsheet of data, which covers the period 2019/20, the TPA says 193 council employees across the South West were on at least £100,000 a year.
Fourteen of them worked at Bristol City Council, 11 at Gloucestershire County Council, 10 at Somerset County Council and six at Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Six were at Swindon Borough Council, five were at South Gloucestershire Council, five were at South Somerset Council and four were at North Somerset Council.
"The 14th annual Town Hall Rich List is a vital tool for taxpayers wanting to judge which authorities are delivering the best value for money," the TPA says.
"This is especially important for residents facing squeezed household budgets during the current coronavirus crisis, with council tax charges going up across the country from 6th April.
"This is in spite of deep public opposition to and the widespread belief that senior salaries should be frozen or cut."
Using the data, the TPA is calling on local authorities across the country to stop raising council tax and cut down on "wasteful spending", by scrapping pay rises for town hall executives.
Asked by us to comment however, Bristol City Council said the data shared by the TPA is "badly out of date" and lists people who longer work for them.
They also pointed out that more recent data, readily available on the council's website here, shows there are now actually 10 council employees on £100,00 or more as of 31 December 2020 and not 14.
Gloucestershire County Council have defended their salaries.
“We have responsibility for a wide range of services that support and protect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities," a spokesperson told us.
"It is therefore important that we have the right people with the right skills and experience to lead this important work, particularly whilst we’ve been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"For that reason, we must offer competitive salaries.
“As a result of the hard working, dedicated staff we employ across the council, we continue to deliver effective services for the people of Gloucestershire, whilst retaining one of the lowest council tax levels of any county council in the country.”
We have also asked several other councils for comment.