by political editor Paul Francis

More than 50 council bosses across Kent were on six-figure pay packages last year, according to a survey.

But the findings have been disputed by several, with Kent County Council saying a claim that it had 34 senior staff on salaries of more than £100,000 was wrong and it has cut the numbers by a third.

The county council was listed as the fifth highest authority for pay packages over £100,000 in a survey of executive pay by the campaign group The Taxpayers’ Alliance.

KCC said the figures, drawn from the annual accounts of each council for 2010-11, are incorrect and out of date and do not reflect a shake-up that has slimmed down the number of top directors.

The survey also highlights the already-published remuneration for KCC’s former chief executive Peter Gilroy (pictured below) that year.

He left in May 2010 and his overall earnings for the period are recorded as £439,071 - including a payment made after his contract was extended by a year.

Across Kent councils, 53 senior bosses received six-figure packages with chief executives receiving the largest sums.

Medway Council recorded the second highest number, 13. However, many had fewer numbers on £100,000 than the previous year.

According to the survey, the borough council with the highest number of six-figure earners was Dartford, with eight.

The figures for other councils are: Ashford: three; Canterbury: two; Dover: one; Gravesham: five; Maidstone: three; Shepway: two; Swale: two; Thanet: five; Tonbridge and Malling: five; and Tunbridge Wells: four.

KCC leader Paul Carter said: "As national government has continued to reduce funding to local government, particularly in the South East, in Kent we have been belt tightening for the last eight to nine years.

"As a result, we are a very lean, tight organisation that is very much fit for purpose. We have done everything possible to continually reduce costs on the council taxpayers of Kent.

"In the recent restructure, the number of senior officers being paid more than £100,000 was reduced to 24 and, during the last three years, our staff in Kent have only received a 1% pay increase.

"In the 1980s there were more than 25 members of the senior management team. Today there are seven.

"In comparison, the NHS in Kent has 462 staff paid over £100,000 and nationally the BBC has 26,000 people earning more than £100,000.

"Local government is one of the few areas of public service where substantial efficiencies have been delivered. The Taxpayers' Alliance should focus on more fertile ground elsewhere and stop beating up on local government unreasonably."

Nationally, 3,097 local authority staff were awarded deals worth more than £100,000, a hike of 13 per cent compared with 2009-10.