Milton Keynes Council has defended the £176,000 salary of its new chief executive (CEO) as it also looks to boost payments to its lowest paid employees.
New CEO Michael Bracey took over the reins of the council in December, and is now set to receive a 2 per cent nationally prescribed hike on April 1, taking his earnings to £179,520.
The council also has five other senior officers out of a total headcount of 2,298 who take home more than £100,000 from the authority’s total pay pot of £68,429,844. There are 44 roles which are paid more than £50,000.
Cllr Rob Middleton, the council’s cabinet member responsible for resources and innovation, is the authority’s equivalent of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
At a meeting of the Joint Negotiating Committee (employers’ side) on Monday (March 4) he said that the council has been paying less for senior officers than its neighbours including Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Central Bedfordshire, and Bedford.
And in terms of the ratio between the highest paid and the £17,363.62 received by the lowest paid, the CEO receives just over 10 times the salary of those on the lowest rung of the pay ladder.
Cllr Middleton said the lowest paid people are due to get a big pay rise in April as the council seeks to become more attractive as an employer against private sector employers, like shops.
