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30
Jan
Council leader defends increase in £100,000 earners
North Yorkshire Council leader Carl Les has defended the increase in the number of staff at the local authority on salaries over £100,000.
The Stray Ferret revealed yesterday (January 29) the number of top earners will increase from 26 to 32 on April 1.
It comes at a time when the council is drawing up plans to increase council tax by the maximum amount and save £52 million over the next three years.
A council spokesperson said the pay rises were “in line with the council’s normal pay policy and annual salary progression”.
They added staff are employed on pay bands and could progress up the scale each year, as well as benefit from nationally negotiated public sector pay rises.
Councillor Carl Les, the Conservative leader of the local authority, said in a statement 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”.
Cllr Les added:
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.
Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.
How does staff and councillor pay differ?
Chief executive Richard Flinton is the highest paid staff member, receiving £211,044, excluding pension contributions.
This week’s published staff payment figures for 2025/26 do not include pension payments or “other temporary payments such as merit and incentive payments eg thank-you payments are excluded”.
The Stray Ferret asked the council what a ‘thank-you payment’ was. The spokesperson said:
A ‘thank-you’ payment is one of the financial incentives which can be made to staff at the discretion of their manager for excellent performance. A ‘thank you’ payment can be made up to a maximum £300.
Although council staff receive salaries, North Yorkshire’s 90 elected councillors, including Cllr Les, are not formally paid.
However, each receives a basic allowance of £17,000 to compensate for their time. This increased from £15,500 this year. Councillors who take on additional roles, such as chairing a committee, also receive special responsibility allowances.
According to the council’s latest figures, Cllr Les received £61,379 in 2023/24 for his council duties and expenses.
Councillors can also claim subsistence allowances for breakfast (£6.50), lunch (£6.50), tea (£3.50), evening meal (£11) and overnight accommodation (£76.50 or £110 in London).
They can also claim for travel. The mileage rate is 45p per mile up to 10,000 miles per year, and 25p a mile for anything above that.
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