Salaries of Northamptonshire's new unitary bosses revealed

The chief executives of Northamptonshire’s two new super councils will each earn a £170,000 salary.

Rob Bridge and Anna Earnshaw were unveiled last month as the successful candidates to take over the running of the unitary authorities that will replace the existing eight councils in the county.

Anna Earnshaw, who is assistant chief executive at Northamptonshire County Council, will take on the top job at the west authority and Rob Bridge, who is currently top officer at Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, will take the reins in the North.

The salary is less than the £195,043 currently paid to chief executive of Northamptonshire County Council Theresa Grant for a nine-day working fortnight.

Theresa Grant was brought into the council in 2018 after its financial collapse to steady the ship and improve services.

She is also now leading the new unitary programme and said of the new chief executives’ pay: “The appointment of the chief executives for the new unitary authorities is one of the most important steps in the process and we wanted to attract some of the best public sector talent in the country so that people in Northamptonshire receive the high quality services they deserve.

“Following a benchmarking exercise against councils of similar sizes to the new unitary authorities, both new chief executives will be paid £170,000 per year. This represents a significant saving when compared to the combined salaries of the eight chief executives leading the existing councils in the county which will all be replaced on 1 April 2021.”

None of the long-standing existing chief executives of the county’s eight authorities have been given a senior role as yet in the new councils.

When the chief executive roles were advertised in May the advert said the salary would be between £170,000 to £180,000 with the possibility of a higher salary for ‘exceptional candidates’.

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