Council chief’s pay set to top £200k

Dudley Council’s chief officer’s wages will rise above £200,000 under salary increases set to be approved by the authority.

The latest round of pay settlements for senior officials at the council is on the agenda for a full meeting of councillors on March 2.

Top jobs at the council have been restructured which means the role of deputy chief executive has been deleted and director roles have been reclassified into four bands.

The top level of four group directors will be paid between £139,320 and £159,960 per year while level four chief officers can expect an annual salary of between £92,995 and £104,484 after the new financial year starts on April 1.

The lowest paid members of the council’s 5,211 full-time staff will see an increase of below inflation 1.5 percent to £24,796 while Balvinder Heran, the authority’s chief executive, will get a 3.1 percent hike from £195,972 to £202,057.

The council also has a number of interim officers filling in for vacant positions or providing specific skills the authority believes it needs.

In the last year the council spent £534,836 on interim staff, including payments to staff who left contracts before their term expired. 

Balvinder Heran, chief executive of Dudley Council, said: “We remain committed to delivering high‑quality services and driving long‑term improvement for our borough and the communities we serve. 

“Our preference is to recruit and retain permanent staff. However, as is the case across most of the public and private sectors, there is strong national competition for specialist, qualified professionals and this can create challenges in filling certain statutory, compliance and programme‑critical roles. 

“Where temporary or specialist support is required, we use this to ensure continuity, protect essential services, and maintain momentum on key improvement priorities, but always with a focus on filling roles permanently as soon as practicable.”