The chief executive of the new North Yorkshire Council will be paid a maximum salary of £197,000, it has been revealed.

The new council, which will employ more than 10,000 staff, will come into existence on April 1 next year.

Seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, will be abolished, along with North Yorkshire County Council.

The chief executive recruitment process will be overseen by a cross-party chief officer appointment and disciplinary committee, which met today to consider the salary as well as the recruitment process and job description.

One of the committee’s roles will be to decide whether to appoint an executive search agent, at an anticipated cost of £30,000, to help the process.

A report on the recruitment process to councillors at North Yorkshire County Council said the salary package had been benchmarked against similar public sector roles nationally. The report adds:

“The sample data shows the pay for unitary councils of a similar size to North Yorkshire falls within a salary range of £188,000 to £216,000 per annum.

“However, the proposed salary limit for the new chief executive is £197,000.

“Set against the current combined packages for the eight chief executives of North Yorkshire councils, this would deliver an annual saving in excess of £1 million.”

Read more:

• Decision on Harrogate town council could take two years
• Harrogate district’s leisure and housing companies ‘will transfer’ to North Yorkshire Council

£30m saving a year

Ending the two-tier system of local government in North Yorkshire is expected to save about £30m a year in total.

Carl Les

County council leader Carl Les, who is chairing the chief officer appointment and disciplinary committee, said:

“Our new council will be one of the largest local authorities nationally, providing essential services to more than 600,000 people.

“The chief executive will need to manage a revenue budget of around £1.4 billion and the new council will have an ongoing capital programme of around £350 million.

“In addition to the vast array of council services and functions, this job also includes heading up the council’s commercial operations at a critical time.

The report to councillors includes details of the current salaries of council leaders in North Yorkshire. It can be seen below.