Six Antrim and Newtownabbey bosses on packages over £100k

It follows publication of the Town Hall Rich List 2021 by the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA), which is a pressure group campaigning for lower taxes.

For the past 14 years the TPA has assembled a comprehensive list of council employees in the UK in receipt of over £100,000 in total remuneration.

It lists chief executive Jacqui Dixon as the top earner on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council with a salary of £117,500 and a total package of £146,000 when expenses (£5,000) and pension (£23,500) are included.

Five other senior members of staff on the local authority in receipt of financial packages ranging from £100,800 to £112,500 are listed too.

A spokesperson for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council confirmed the figures are correct but declined to comment further.

Neighbouring Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has rejected as “incorrect” data published in relation to the number of its employees earning over £100k.

Having collated data from every local council across the UK, the TPA report showed that the top earning council employee in Northern Ireland is Belfast City Council chief executive Suzanne Wylie with a package worth £170.288, followed by Ards and North Down chief executive Stephen Reid on £151,000.

Other TPA findings were:

At least 2,802 people employed by local authorities in 2019-20 received more than £100,000 in total remuneration, an increase of 135 on 2018-19;

A total of 693 received over £150,000, 26 more than the previous year;

The average number of employees who received over £100,000 in total remuneration per local authority is seven;

The average number receiving over £150,000 is 1.7 employees per council.

The report also noted the region with the highest number of employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000 was London, with 580. Northern Ireland was the lowest at 47, albeit with a marked increase from the previous year.

Click here to read: Who are the TaxPayers’ Alliance behind 2021 Town Hall Rich List?