2024 Town Hall Rich List: North East council with most employees earning over £100,000 remains Northumberland

The organisation’s 2024 Town Hall Rich List revealed that 22 council employees earned over £100,000 in the 2022-23 financial year.

This is one less than the previous financial year, but it is the fourth year running that the council has been top of the North East list for earners over this amount.

A Northumberland County Council spokesperson said: “Achieving value for money is one of our key priorities and we have since revised our senior management structure.

“This resulted in the number of posts receiving over £100,000 reducing by six.”

Two former executives at the council were also named in the report as among the 20 highest remunerated local authority employees.

Former chief executive Daljit Lally was fifth on the list after receiving £448,006. Her loss of office payment totalling £359,000 was the year’s second highest.

Fifteenth on the highest remunerated list was former director of transformation Allison Joynson, who received £316,863.

For the report’s purposes, total remuneration can include salary, bonuses, redundancy payments, pension contributions, benefits in kind, and more.

A council spokesperson said: "It is important to remember these are historical figures dating back to 2022/23 and the two employees referred to are no longer with the council.

“The figure for Mrs Lally is not the actual sum paid to her when she left her post. It includes her pay for that year and the cost of her exit package to the council.

“Mrs Lally’s exit agreement included £209,000 gross, which was paid to Mrs Lally, while legal fees of £50,000 were paid direct to Mrs Lally's solicitor in February 2023 and £100,000 was written off by the council.

“Therefore the total cost of the package to date is £359,000 as outlined in the report to full council on July 22, 2022.

“This relates to a historical staffing matter that was resolved almost two years ago. The council has since drawn a line under the matter."

Figures for a council officer named on the list of top expenses and benefits claims are a result of an accounting quirk and not an accurate reflection of expenses claimed.