North London residents question council CEO's 'eye watering' salary that's more than Keir Starmer's

North London residents have questioned how the ‘eye watering’ salary of the council’s chief executive can be justified amidst continued tax rises and service cuts. Brent Council’s CEO earns just over £220,000 a year - £50,000 more than the Prime Minister’s salary.

Current CEO, Kim Wright, receives a salary of £220,680, that’s £53,894 more than PM Kier Starmer’s earnings of £166,786 - which includes the £91,346 salary paid to all MPs - although the PM does receive additional benefits, such as a residency during their tenure.

It is roughly in line with the average CEO other other London councils, with a further 82 senior managers receiving salaries ranging between £64,687 and £180,792, according to the council’s website.

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After the CEO, there are three tiers of senior manager in Brent. The six strategic director roles pay rates range from £110,629 to £180,792, whilst the 13 operational director salaries range from £105,189 to £141,766 and the 63 head of service rates range between £64,687 to £110,629. Brent Council claims the salaries are necessary to ‘attract the best people’ but residents have said the salaries are enough to ‘make your eyes water’.

It comes on the back of the council warning residents that its finances are ‘at breaking point’, with council tax set to again go up by the maximum allowed 4.99 per cent and waste collection costs rising as the local authority seeks to find a further £16m worth of cuts.

These financial challenges, according to Brent Council, are caused by a ‘perfect storm’ of high inflation, rapidly increasing demand for services, and reduced government funding. It points to an increasingly expensive adult social care bill due to an ageing population, as well as soaring levels of homelessness - with around 150 new families presenting as homeless most weeks - as reasons for the increased financial pressure.

Residents have called for executive pay in the public sector ‘to be curved’, and questioned how these salaries ‘can be justified’ when taxpayers' contributions continue to rise whilst services are cut and public assets sold off.

One resident on neighbourhood app Nextdoor said: “That is absolutely shocking, no wonder council’s are going bankrupt, and services are so bad. The nurses and care workers work so hard for a pittance [...]. They have got no shame.”

Another added: “It's [these] huge salaries that cause councils to go bankrupt under the guise 'we have to pay that to attract the best qualified people'. I'm sure most residents could do a better job.”

Councillors themselves are not paid, but they do receive an allowance to cover their time and associated costs. Some councillors may also receive an additional allowance if they take on an extra role.

Council Leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, recently appointed himself to two additional roles - one as the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Growth, and another as the Cabinet Member for Housing - which he has taken on while Cllr Promise Knight is on maternity leave.

'We need to offer competitive salaries to attract the best people to lead the council through difficult times'

A Brent Council spokesperson said: “Our pay levels for senior officers, including the chief executive, reflect market rates and are comparable to other London boroughs. Brent Council has a £1.1 billion budget, which is similar to many FTSE 250 companies. The council is a complex organisation providing around 300 different services to local residents every day.”

They added: “Since 2010, we have less money to serve more people, who need more services, which have become more expensive to provide. This means the pressures on Chief Executives are intense now and show no signs of relenting while local government is one of the most efficient and effective parts of the public sector.

“We need to offer competitive salaries to attract the best people to lead the council through difficult times.”

The situation is slightly different in the neighbouring borough Harrow, where the council no longer have a CEO. Instead, it has changed the name of the role to Managing Director, although there is no real difference in terms of remit.

The current MD of Harrow Council is Alex Dewsnap, who was appointed in May, 2023. His salary is reportedly £165,941, with 22 other senior management roles also receiving six figure incomes. Collectively, they are responsible for the day to day running of the council, putting policy decisions made by councillors into action, and managing a budget of more than £600m.

Harrow Council claim these managers have 'helped improve services' over the last four years, whilst 'making savings of over £50m'.

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