by political editor Paul Francis

has the largest
number of senior council officers earning more than £100,000 in the
country, according to a survey carried out by the campaign group
the Taxpayers’ Alliance.Kent County Council

It reveals that County Hall employed 27 people on salaries
of £100,000 and above in 2008-2009 - three fewer than the same
survey carried out last year but more than Birmingham, with 12 and
Liverpool with 22.

The council defended the figures and said they gave a
misleading picture and in some cases were out of date. In a
statement, the authority accused the lobby group of being more
interested in newspaper headlines than a constructive
debate.

It said: "Kent is the largest local authority in the
country which remains consistently excellent as independently
defined by the Audit Commission. With an annual budget of £2.4bn
and over 40,000 staff we will invariably feature highly in any
league table. To remain as one of the best-performing public
agencies in the country we must retain and attract the very best
people to continue delivering the most effective and efficient
public services."

The latest survey, dubbed The Town Hall Rich List, also
identifies two senior directors no longer with KCC who between them
earned £670,000 in a year after receiving six-figure pay-offs when
they left their jobs.

Details of the pay-offs were revealed by KM Group in
January but at the time the county council declined to say who the
individuals were and what posts they held.

Now it has emerged that they were the authority’s former
education chief Graham Badman, whose salary and termination
agreement meant that his earnings in the year amounted to
£305,000.

The second was the former managing director of environment
and regeneration, thought to be Adam Wilkinson. He quit after just
over a year in the post in 2008 but his pay-off and salary meant
that overall his remuneration totalled £365,000.

Meanwhile, the survey - based on responses made to Freedom
of Information requests - indicates that chief executive Peter
Gilroy, who is about to leave the county council, saw a drop in his
earnings in 2008-09. His remuneration was £245,000 compared to the
£255,000 in the previous year.

However, his salary continues to make him among the
highest-paid chief executives in the country. The KMG recently
revealed how he is in line for a £200,000 pay-off when he quits the
job in May.

The survey suggests that some of KCC’s senior officers,
who the council chose not to identify, saw their earnings increase
by between nine per cent and 16 per cent although the council did
not provide specific figures. Others saw no increase in their
earnings.

Taxpayers' Alliance policy analyst John O'Connell said:
"Town hall bosses have had a very good recession at taxpayers'
expense. More of them than ever are earning massive amounts and
they even enjoyed a healthy pay rise while everyone else was
suffering pay freezes, cuts or redundancies."

Medway Council had three officers earning above £100,000.
They were Neil Davies, chief executive (£140,640); Rose Collinson;
managing director of childrens services (£123,166) and Robin
Cooper, regeneration and environment director
(£119,155).

www.taxpayersalliance.comDetails of the full survey can be seen at:

What the council says

KCC said the survey’s findings did not give an accurate
picture.

The council said some posts no longer existed; others were
temporary appointments and the salaries were paid to managers who
were acting up to fill vacant posts.

On the issue of the senior directors who left, it said it
was only their redundancy payments that took them over the £100,000
level.

The council defended its decision not to identify
individuals, saying it was not prepared to do so "out of respect
for their privacy."

All three main political parties have now pledged to
compel councils to give names of council bosses over a certain
salary.