The number of Sheffield City Council employees earning over £100,000 has nearly doubled in 2022-23, with one employee receiving a £53,000 pay rise, despite bringing in the maximum council tax increase.
The number of employees earning over £100,000 changed from seven to 13 between 2021-22 and 2022-23, with four members of staff now receiving over £150,000.
Eugene Walker, Executive Director of Resources, saw his salary increase from £158,000 to £211,000, meaning that he earned more than the Prime Minister’s own salary entitlement for the same year.
Elliot Keck, Head of Campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “I’d have real questions as to whether or not the performance of that individual really justified a pay increase of about £53,000.
“One of the questions that residents will be asking is whether or not they’re using the additional money they are receiving from increases in council tax and government grants to prioritise their own pay rather than local services.
Mr Walker was briefly promoted to Acting chief executive after Kate Josephs, the current CEO, spent time on leave whilst being investigated for the Partygate scandal. He has since been appointed in an interim role at Woking Borough Council.
It was announced by the City Council last month that council tax will rise by 4.99% for the next financial year, the maximum amount permitted without a referendum.
Mr Keck continued: “Given they have just brought in the maximum council tax increase that they were allowed to levy, while at the same time they have almost doubled the number of people receiving over £100,000… would lead me to suspect that they are focusing a bit too much on their own pay rather than the budgets of households in the area.”
The council tax increase would cost those living in Band A properties, which make up 60% of all houses in the city, a further £1.17 a week.
Band A properties are those that had a value of up to and including £40,000 in April 1991, and these homeowners will now have to pay a total council tax of £1,512.43 a year.
Sheffield residents took to social media to express their frustration with the increased salaries and council tax.
One Facebook user, Khurram Shahzad, said: “Nice! Every year we get a letter telling us to pay the maximum council tax because it’s struggling whilst the staff enjoy their hefty salaries putting pressure on already struggling families. How can they justify these salaries?”
Another, Chris James, asked: “Are they worth it? Looking round parts of Sheffield, I’d suggest not.”
Across the country, rising inflation rates and increased government grants have led to increased salaries for council employees over the last two years.
The Rich List is a dataset of every single council official in the United Kingdom who received over £100,000 in a single financial year in remuneration, which includes salary, bonuses, expenses, pensions and loss of office payments.
Mr Keck added: “It’s a transparency exercise. Some people think that going after councils is going after the little guy, but we very much reject that.
“Whether its the state of the roads, the local library, bin collections, education – these are all under the control of the local authorities.
“How they’re run, who runs them and how much these people are paid is of critical importance to local taxpayers.”
Sheffield City Council were contacted but failed to provide a reply in time.
