Big pay rise for new council chief

9.16.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 15th Oct 2009

The Tory cabinet at Wiltshire Council has agreed the process of finding a new chief executive.

They've hired consultants at a cost of up to £50,000 to do the recruitment and the successful applicant will get paid about as much as the Prime Minister.

The process was agreed as part of the deal with the Labour government to scrap the local councils in favour of WC, though the timetable has slipped and the new CE will start work in March instead of January as originally intended.

The salary will be in the £171,000 to £189,000 range, equivalent to the council tax take from a medium-sized Wiltshire village. In comparison with the salary range for the existing Chief Executive of £146,342 to £161,324 this represents a pay rise of up to £43,000.

A large number of applications for the job were received and the process of short-listing is underway.

The Liberal Democrat Group position is not to support the increase in the new Chief Executive's salary range. At a time when many council tax payers are struggling to make ends meet and the government is urging public sector restraint, pay rates for chief officers must be kept under control.

The Group wanted a value for money approach with the post advertised at a scale equivalent to that paid to the previous postholder.