Growth in £50,000 council staff

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The number of local authority middle managers on £50,000 or more has risen more than nine times in the past 10 years, a UK-wide report has found.

Lobby group TaxPayers' Alliance said the growth was more than double that in the rest of the economy and using up an increasing amount of council tax.

Councils with the most staff on £50,000 or more were Birmingham, Kent, Hertfordshire, Essex and Hampshire.

The Local Government Association said the wages attracted the best managers.

'Complex' jobs

The report found the average council budget for £50,000-and-over staff was more than £4m in 2006/07.

The cost to tax payers across the country for this category of staff was the equivalent £1 in every £11 paid in council tax.

TaxPayer's Alliance chief executive, Matthew Elliott, said the number of middle managers should be seen in relation to an increase in average council tax payments for band D properties from £646 to £1,248.

Nine out of 10 councils are either meeting or exceeding value-for-money requirements John Ransford, Local Government Association

Mr Elliott said: "With council tax doubling in the past decade, it's extremely disappointing that town halls have chosen to hire a new class of middle managers, many of whom are being paid more than MPs."

John Ransford, deputy chief executive of the Local Government Association, which represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales, said the people earning such salaries were responsible for multimillion-pound budgets in highly complex organisations.

"To attract the best and brightest people to deliver value for money, you have to pay a suitable wage," he said.

"The Audit Commission this week confirmed that more than nine out of 10 councils are either meeting or exceeding value-for-money requirements."