Ollerton and Edwinstowe's district council spends more on its chief executive than any other district authority in Nottinghamshire

The figures were published by low-taxation campaign TaxPayers’ Alliance, which releases an annual ‘Town Hall Rich List’, showing the number of council officer posts across the country which earn more than £100,000 a year.

None of the Nottinghamshire councils made the top 10 on the list of highest-paid posts, but the figures show Newark & Sherwood spends more on its chief executive, John Robinson, than any other borough or district council.

Mr Robinson’s salary at Newark is £128,281.

All Nottinghamshire council chief executive roles command salaries above £100,000 a year, and some officer positions which are unique to their respective authorities are paid higher than the chief executive.

Newark & Sherwood also has a deputy chief executive as well, who is paid £105,442 a year, as well as three directors on salaries of £85,924 per annum.

A council spokesman said: “Newark & Sherwood is geographically the largest district council out of seven in Nottinghamshire and covers about a third of the county with 65,134 hectares of land.

“As a council, we deliver essential services to about 121,000 residents across 56,780 households in the district. We employ 634 people and for the current financial year 2022/23, our annual gross budget for non-housing services is just under £48 million.

“We are one of the few Nottinghamshire authorities who have our own social housing stock of more than 5,541 homes with an associated annual budget of £26.5m.

“The data from the TaxPayers’ Alliance shows the salary for our chief executive is ranked 188 out of 317 local authorities and six out of 24 for the East Midlands and is proportionate to the high level of responsibility of the role.”

Salaries

Nottinghamshire Council spends more than any of the other local authorities in the county, with its chief executive Anthony May paid £185,386 a year.

Other Nottinghamshire Council salaries of more than £100,000 include: corporate director – £147,118; corporate director – £137,494; corporate director – £132,356; service director – £102,974; service director – £102,974; director of public health – £98,869; and two undisclosed posts, both at £102,500.

Mr May said: “Nottinghamshire Council is the 10th largest local authority in England and directly employs 7,500 employees, 14,000 including our maintained schools, with a further 1,471 people employed in the council’s arms-length companies.

“The council has a gross budget of £1 billion and provides more than 400 services to a population of more than 810,000 people, including some of the county’s most vulnerable people.

“The number of employees receiving over £100,000 total remuneration is eight, which is in line with the average across all local authorities in the UK.

“The council has been at the forefront of Nottinghamshire’s response to the pandemic and will play a key role in the county’s recovery. It is important the council continues to attract the best quality leaders.”

Mansfield Council salaries include: chief executive – £116,000; strategic manager – £84,000; strategic manager – £82,000.

Mike Robinson, Mansfield Council interim co-chief executive officer, said: “The salaries are more or less in line with the average in this region for these roles.”

At Ashfield Council, chief executive Theresa Hodgkinson earns £114,761.