Council rich list revealed: These are the top earners at councils in Shropshire

Figures released by the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TA) in its annual Town Hall Rich List show that chief executive Andy Begley’s yearly salary is £167,143.

However, he also has a pension of £28,748 – bringing the total amount to £195,891. Last month, ‘strong leadership and having a clear direction’ helped Mr Begley win the Public and Third Sector Leader category at the West Midlands Leadership Awards 2024.

Other high-earners include:

• Executive director of people: salary (£145,123); total amount (£170,084)

• Executive director of resorces: salary (£145,123); total amount (£170,084 – an element is recharged to Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority – £18,350; the Marches LEP – £6,934; West Mercia Energy – £11,220; and West Mercia Supplies – £1,187 to reflect the various treasurer roles undertaken within those organisations)

• Executive director of place: salary (£145,123); total amount (£147,203)

• Executive director of health, wellbeing and prevention: salary (£139,618); total amount (£163,632)

A further 20 ‘undisclosed’ people earn between £102,500 and £110,000 a year. It means that Shropshire Council now has eight more people earning more than £100,000 a year compared to last year.

This week, Shropshire residents saw their council tax rise by 4.99% – the equivalent of about £1.65 more per week for an average Band D property.

The local authority says it needs to save around £22.8 million during the 2025/26 financial year to balance its budget – with £18m already being identified.

A Shropshire Council spokesperson said: “The amount senior managers at Shropshire Council are paid and any pay award for these posts is voted for by councillors at Full Council.

“In February 2025, councillors endorsed a review of senior managers which has just come into effect and reduced the senior leadership team at Shropshire from 20 to 12.5 posts, with no regrades, saving around £1m in salary costs.

“Salaries are locally agreed but are informed by the nationally agreed pay awards for chief officers as well as being routinely benchmarked against similar roles in comparable councils and industries.

“These reflect the ambitions that the council has for Shropshire which is going through a period of major transformation and, like many councils across the country, faces a very difficult financial situation as rising costs and growing demand for services, particularly for social care, outstrip budgets.

“This situation requires strong leadership to help guide the council towards financial sustainability. In the last year, Shropshire has delivered more than £46.6m of savings, equivalent to nearly 18% of its revenue budget – one of the highest proportions of such savings of any council in the country.”

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Telford and Wrekin, there are 13 employees at the council who earn at least £95,000 year.

Its chief executive, David Sidaway’s salary is £169,302, however his pension boosts it to £198,422.

The executive director for children’s and family services is the next highest earner with a salary of £146,892, followed by the executive directors for adult social care, health integration and wellbeing, and housing, communities and customer services, who both earn £130,673 a year. However, all of the exeutive directors have pensions which boost their income.

The director for communities, customer and commercial services earns £107,775, while there are seven other directors whose annual salary is £101,369. The director for adult social care, meanwhile, earns £95,176 a year.

The TA’s figures for 2024 showed there were 14 employees earning at least £89,196 a year, with Mr Sidaway’s salary being £169,852.

Telford & Wrekin Council has been approached for comment.