More than 60 council employees in Sussex were each paid more than £100,000 last year.
The latest edition of the Taxpayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List revealed 68 workers in the county were on a salary of more than £100,000 in the 2022/23 financial year.
A total of 59 councils did not provide the Alliance accounts for 2022-23 and some roles and names were not disclosed by local authorities.
Brighton and Hove City Council had 15 people on a salary of more than £100,000.
The job titles and names of seven of these were undisclosed.
The highest earner at the council was former chief executive Geoff Raw, who left the council last year, with a salary of £168,537.
This was more than Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who had a salary entitlement of £164,951 in 2022-23 according to Taxpayers’ Alliance.
The second highest earner was executive director of economy, environment and culture Donna Chisholm on £154,577 and the job title and name of the third highest earner with a salary of £152,500 was not disclosed.
Council leader Bella Sankey said: “Brighton and Hove City Council is a £1 billion organisation with more than 4,500 staff who deliver around 500 services every day to our residents, communities, businesses and visitors.
“To run a very large organisation like ours, we must attract the best staff possible to manage our budget and services, and this means paying competitive salaries which, are around average for local government and lower than equivalent roles in the private sector.
“The council is also proudly a real living wage employer, and in recent years we’ve taken determined action on low pay so currently our lowest pay rate is 15.5 per cent higher than the real living wage."
East Sussex County Council had 14 employees on more than £100,000 including Rupert Clubb, director of communities, economy and transport, on £155,600, Mark Stainton, director of adult social care, on £154,439, Philip Baker, assistant chief executive, on £154,475 and chief executive Becky Shaw on £105,947.
An East Sussex County Council spokesman said: “Our senior officers are responsible for a gross annual budget of more than £1 billion and around 5,000 staff who deliver vital services to the people of East Sussex.
“The scale of the leadership challenge running a complex organisation and services in the face of significant financial challenge, complex needs and multiple risks is significant.
“It is therefore extremely important that we are able to attract the best candidates, who have the skills, experience and knowledge to carry out their role effectively, and our policy is to pay all of our staff – including senior managers – salaries which are in line with the average pay grade for those doing similar jobs in the public sector in the south east.
“In recent years we have reduced the number of senior managers by a quarter, and details of senior officer pay are available on the council’s website.”
In West Sussex, senior coroner Penelope Schofield was the top earner with a salary of £159,153 followed by Lucy Butler, director of children, young people and learning with a salary of £154,550.
A total of 25 people were listed as earning more than £100,000 and the jobs titles and names of 18 of these were not disclosed.
Adur and Worthing Councils listed five employees who earned more than £100,000.
These included its head of legal, monitoring officer on £169,067 and chief executive Catherine Howe on £142,342.
Arun District Council paid four people over £100,000 including an interim housing boss, who was undisclosed, who had the highest listed salary for Sussex at £211,000.
In Mid Sussex, three people earned more than £100,000, this included chief executive Kathryn Hall who received a salary of £146,583.
A Mid Sussex District Council spokesman said: "The council is a major employer and like most public bodies, our employment practices are subject to a raft of legislation, regulation and guidance and we comply with all our obligations as an employer."
Crawley Borough Council’s chief executive had a salary of £132,468 and its deputy chief executive earned £110,212.
Nationally, at least 3,106 people employed in local authorities in 2022-23 received total remuneration of at least £100,000, this is an increase of 347 on 2021-22. Of these 829 received at least £150,000, 108 more than the previous year. This is the largest number of people in receipt of at least £150,000 since the Town Hall Rich List began in 2007.
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