Dorset Council has been revealed as the local authority in the south west with the most employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000

The figures are disclosed in the the latest Taxpayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List which gives a council-by-council breakdown of local government executive pay deals for the 2021-22 financial year.

With households facing record council tax rises, the campaign group is calling on local authority bosses to offer value for money and stop council tax hikes.

Dorset Council had 23 members of staff with annual remuneration of more than £100,000 - the most for the south west region - according to the list.

This included chief executive Matt Prosser, who had a salary of £173,000 and a £29,000 pension contribution.

Other named officers included four executive directors with a total remuneration of £170,000 - Aidan Dunn, Vivienne Broadhurst, John Sellgren and Theresa Leavy. It also featured director of public health Sam Crowe, whose total pay package for the year was £157,000.

The remaining 17 Dorset Council entries on the list had names and job titles not disclosed, excluding the monitoring officer.

A Dorset Council spokesperson said it published chief officer salary figures each February during the budget setting as a commitment to be “open, accessible and accountable” with transparency on salary costs.

“Dorset Council is one of the largest councils in the country a unitary authority, responsible for both district and county council functions,” the spokesperson said.

“Many areas of England still have the two-tier system with both county and district and borough councils. Therefore, it is unrealistic to compare a large unitary council like Dorset Council with small district councils serving much smaller populations with a narrower range of services and statutory responsibilities.

“The size, complexity and statutory responsibility of Dorset Council are reflected in chief officer salaries. Councillors set chief officer salaries having benchmarked them against other similar-sized authorities. The terms and conditions and annual cost of living pay increases are negotiated and set nationally.”

The spokesperson added that “significant” staffing cost savings had been made since the councils merger in 2019.

The authority had saved £10m every year since 2019/20 by reducing chief officer posts.

Dorset Councillor for Portland Paul Kimber said: “I have always warned officers about paying themselves film star wages because they have to be accountable to the public at large.

“However to attract the right people you have to pay them well.

“These are jobs with big responsibilities.

“I can assure readers that our officers do not sit around, they have to perform and they have to perform well.”

Nationally, at least 2,759 people employed by local authorities in 2021/22 received more than £100,000 in total remuneration.

The report found 721 received more than £150,000, 46 more than the previous year.

Meanwhile, 14 members of BCP Council staff received annual remuneration of more than £100,000.

Chief executive Graham Farrant was the top earner on the list at BCP Council with a salary of £191,479 - up from £188,649 reported the previous year.