HAMPSHIRE County Council paid 21 employees more than £100,000 last year, including eight earning north of £150,000, new figures have revealed.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List, which ranked the council eighth in the UK, showed that chief executive John Coughlan earned £213,054 in the 2016-17 tax year.

He was joined by director of corporate resources Carolyn Williamson (£170,316) and director of children’s services Steve Crocker (£169,910) in the £150,000 or more club.

The director of adults, health and care took home £167,777 while the director of community, culture and business services earned 162,128. Both were unnamed in the report.

Three additional unknown employees in unknown roles were paid £187,500, £162,500 and £157,500. 11 anonymous others earned between £102,500 and £127,000.

The total amount for all the council’s employees include pension contributions.

The report also named the county council as the local authority with the most employees who received more than £100,000 in the south east. And the list revealed that the amount of county council employees on £100,000 or more rose by one from the previous tax year – bucking a trend of decline seen by other councils.

Winchester City Council was also on the list, but the authority was ranked 399th out of 432 with only one £100,000 employee.

This was the corporate director (service delivery) who took home £105,000.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The average council tax bill has gone up by more than £900 over the last 20 years and spending has gone through the roof.

“Disappointingly, many local authorities are now responding to financial reality through further tax rises and reducing services rather than scaling back top pay.”

Mr O’Connell added: “Despite many in the public sector facing a much-needed pay freeze to help bring the public finances under control, many town hall bosses are continuing to pocket huge remuneration packages, with staggering pay-outs for those leaving their jobs despite a £95,000 cap passed by the last government.

“The sheer scale of these packages raise serious questions about efficiency and priorities.

“The government must also act to implement the exit payment cap that was passed in 2016.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council, said: “The data that the Taxpayers’ Alliance has provided is readily available, as we publish these details each year – and includes pay scales, the pay of chief officers and the pension contributions made, together with the number of employees within particular bands. The figures published by the county council each year also include staff from across almost 500 Hampshire schools, but we have no say on their pay – this is determined by schools.

“It’s also important to note that the role of the chief executive and that of a number of chief officers now goes beyond the delivery of services on behalf of just Hampshire County Council (the third largest shire council in the country, serving 1.3 million residents). These roles are also responsible for the delivery of a range of services to a number of other local authorities and public sector partners. Such additional functions include: full business support to Hampshire Constabulary, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, Oxfordshire County Council; Children’s Services to Isle of Wight and Torbay; and internal audit and property services to a range of partners; generating gross income of £130 million.

“In addition to this successful income generation strategy, the county council remains vigilant in bearing down on its costs and staffing. £340 million of savings had been secured by April 2017 – including a reduction in levels of senior management, with the roles they undertake now ever larger, and more complex.”