BARNSLEY Council's chief executive was paid £170,000 in the last financial year, up more than 13 per cent from the £150,000 she was paid the year before.
The council said the increase did not constitute a 'pay rise' and was due to her taking on the additional role as returning officer during both local and national elections. The role was previously taken by the council's top legal officer, the borough secretary Andrew Frosdick.
The council is facing huge cuts in services and has made hundreds of redundancies in recent years but leader of the council Sir Steve Houghton defended the chief executive's salary saying that if the council didn't pay the right salary, it would not get the right person for the job.
"That's the rate for the job and we have to pay it," he said.
** The full story is in the Barnsley Chronicle newspaper, dated July 24 **
