LEWISHAM: Council reveals earnings of senior bosses after pressure from News Shopper (From This Is Local London)

LEWISHAM: Council reveals earnings of senior bosses after pressure from News Shopper

9:40am Thursday 9th April 2009 in News By Matthew Jenkin

LEWISHAM: Council reveals figures for senior bosses after pressure from News Shopper

LEWISHAM Council has revealed the earnings of its chief executive and senior bosses after pressure from the News Shopper.

Campaign group the Taxpayers’ Alliance published a Town Hall Rich List detailing the salaries of senior officers working in local government.

It found that 1,022 people in town halls across the country now earn more than £100,000 a year of taxpayers’ money - an increase of 27 per cent from 818 last year.

Freedom of Information requests asking for senior council officer earnings were sent to each of the UK’s 469 local authorities but according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance, Lewisham Council and 22 others refused to respond or failed to provide adequate information.

But after pressure from the News Shopper Lewisham Council has now revealed the earnings for nine of its most senior bosses in 2007/2008.

Chief executive Barry Quirk earned £188,384 and the executive director for children and young people, Frankie Sulke, earned £132.618.

Lesley Seary, executive director for customer services, also earned £132,618, and the executive director for resources, Janet Senior, was paid £130,053.

A council spokesman said: “Details of the numbers of staff earning over £50,000 are published in our annual statement of accounts, which is already available on the council website, and the chief executive's salary is, and has for some time been, publicly available.”

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "At best, Lewisham have been secretive and obstructive about the pay of senior staff.

“We believe that taxpayers have a right to know who is being paid these large salaries, how much they are getting and what job they are meant to be doing."