COUNCIL leader Robert Gould defended the chief executive’s £110k salary and said the councils’ partnership had made ‘huge savings’.

Councillor Gould said David Clarke’s pay packet was ‘a lot less’ than that of most local authority chief executives.

He said: “Huge savings have been made thanks to the partnership between WDDC and WPBC which has helped protect frontline services and freeze council tax.

“The partnership merges the councils’ staff and includes a single management team, and this has cut costs and increased efficiency significantly across the two councils.

“The appointment of a single chief executive leading two councils costs just £55,000 a year per council, which is a lot less than most council chief executives earn nationally.”

WDDC Liberal Democrat councillor Ros Kayes said senior officers in local government had created an ‘internal market’ that inflated the wages of top earners.

She said: “I think it’s down to the internal market local government has created for itself that has put these salaries up. I do think there have to be questions asked about that.”

Coun Kayes stressed that she was not questioning the work of the officers, merely the nature of the market.

She said: “I can absolutely assure you every officer in West Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council is working their socks off. Firstly because they have got the Olympics coming up and also because they have just gone through a very difficult merger.”

Coun Kayes also said allowances paid to councillors need attention.

Honorary Alderman Andy Hutchings, a member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Party, said: “As a former Weymouth and Portland councillor of 24 years I was always concerned about high salaries when many of the hard-working staff in the borough council are on a pay freeze.”

WDDC Tory Coun Terry Farmer added: “I think we probably compare with any council of this size throughout the country because of the partnership.”