Council chiefs have hit back at claims they are ‘fat cats' with six figure salaries – because they're worth it.
The TaxPayers' Alliance published a list last week of 578 local government directors and chief executives who earn more than £100,000 a year.
The list included five people who earn more than £200,000 a year, including Kent CC chief executive Peter Gilroy, who the pressure group claimed earned £229,999 a year.
But Kent CC leader Paul Carter said: ‘Last week, Kent CC was awarded the top four star rating by the Audit Commission for the value for money of its services.
‘The Commission also said we were ‘improving strongly'. Only one other county council achieved this high a rating and a lot of this is down to the leadership of Peter Gilroy and our team of top officers.' London Councils chairman Merrick Cockell said: ‘You get the the public servants you pay for – Londoners demand excellence from theirs and they need to be paid accordingly.' A Camden LBC spokesman said four of their staff who appear on the list no longer work for the council.
The deputy chief executive of the Local Government Association, John Ransford, said: ‘When senior salaries in the private sector are compared to senior salaries in the public sector, the taxpayer gets very good value for money.' A spokesman for the CBI said the list was ‘populist nonsense'.
‘Thousands of pensioners are having to choose between heating and their homes and paying their council tax bills,' said TaxPayers' Alliance chairman, Andrew Allum. ‘It's a complete insult to their dignity.'

The TaxPayers' Alliance Top 10
Tom Scholes Chief executive, Renfrewshire Council £233,029
Peter Gilroy Chief executive, Kent CC £229,999
Gerald Jones Chief executive, Wandsworth LBC £227,424
Richard Shaw Chief executive, Surrey CC £207,843
Tim Byles Chief executive, Norfolk CC £204,165
Ian Stewart Chief executive, Cambridgeshire CC £199,999
Chris Duffield Town Clerk, City of London £190,270
Derek Myers Chief executive, Kensington and Chelsea LBC £190,000
Graham Badman Strategic director of education and libraries, Kent CC £189,999
Caroline Tapster Chief executive, Hertfordshire CC £188,500