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Apr
Town Hall Rich List reveals North Yorkshire Council’s top earners
A total of 23 staff at North Yorkshire Council received six-figure salaries in 2023/24, according to the latest Town Hall Rich List.
The list, published annually by the low-tax pressure group the TaxPayers’ Alliance, reveals which local authority officials were paid more than £100,000 in 2023/24.
North Yorkshire Council’s highest earner was chief executive Richard Flinton, who was paid £205,897. His pension was worth £25,873, bringing his total remuneration package to £231,770.
Mr Flinton was one of 238 council employees nationally paid more than the Prime Minister.
He ranked 47th overall on the list of six-figure salary earners, which was headed by Mike Jackson, chief executive of Wandsworth Council, who was paid £281,433.
Gary Fielding, corporate director for resources, and Karl Battersby, corporate director for environmental services, were the next best paid in North Yorkshire, each receiving salaries of £169,379 and total remuneration of £190,314.
Karl Battersby (left) and Gary Fielding
The North Yorkshire list also includes three more corporate directors, three assistant chief executives, the director of public health and the director of transformation, plus 12 other undisclosed positions.
The list, which covers the first year since North Yorkshire Council was formed in April 2023, comes as council tax bills are due to rise by the maximum 4.99% from April 1.
Last year’s list covered the final year before Harrogate Borough Council, and six other district and borough councils, were abolished to make way for North Yorkshire Council.
It showed 12 staff at Harrogate were paid above £100,000, as reported here.
Nationally, a record 3,906 local authority officials received more than £100,000 in the latest list.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
It’s a record breaking year in many respects for taxpayers as the country hurtles towards a record tax burden, all while the public sector continues to feather its nest. As our latest Town Hall Rich List demonstrates, the number of council staff with six-figure remuneration packages has surged at the same time that services are being slashed and council tax is being hiked above inflation.
'Salaries reflect responsibilities and experience'
We asked North Yorkshire Council how it justified having so many high earning staff at a time when council tax is rising by the maximum amount.
Trudy Forster, the council’s assistant director for human resources, said:
Our senior officers are paid salaries that reflect their responsibilities and experience and to ensure that we can recruit the very best candidates to do their jobs.
It is the responsibility of our elected members to put in place the arrangements for senior officers’ pay and to ensure that salaries are fair, accountable and offer the best value for taxpayers.
The launch of North Yorkshire Council, which brought together the county’s eight previous authorities into one organisation, has given the opportunity to make significant savings. There has been a reduction of 60 posts across the top levels of officers, which has made a saving of about £4.7 million for taxpayers.
We are also among the authorities representing the best value for money for the pay of senior officers earning £100,000 and more of all councils in the country. We are the second most cost-effective authority nationally when ranked against similar councils.
The full benefits of local government reorganisation are still being realised, and further savings are due to be achieved in the new financial year.
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