CALLS have been made for town hall bosses to take pay cuts after new figures showed millions are paid out in Cumbria every year.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance said a number of council bosses across Cumbria are on pay and pension in excess of £100,000.

It said residents faced “ever-rising” council tax bills yet senior executive pay had not been cut.

The figures show pension contributions range from 14 to 18 per cent with some bosses also claiming expenses.

The figures were revealed in the TPA’s Town Hall rich list for 2019. They show that the executive director for Barrow Council – currently vacant until new chief Samantha Plum joins in summer – is paid £97,000-a-year in salary. The annual pension is £15,000 which represents a total package of £112,000.

David Pidduck, Barrow Council leader, said he did not “begrudge” the sum and chief executives earned every penny as they are responsible for hundreds of staff and multi-million pound budgets.

He said: “Barrow’s is the lowest in Cumbria and probably in the north-west. God forbid a disaster ever happened but they would carry the can. ”

SLDC chief executive Lawrence Conway is paid £107,094 in salary with a pension of £17,349, for a total of £124,443.

In response, SLDC said a new senior management structure had been agreed which would result in managerial savings of £200,000 a year.

Copeland Borough Council chief executive Pat Graham receives a total of £112,167 while Katherine Fairclough, chief executive of Cumbria County Council, receives £164,093 in pay and pension.

The figures, dating from 2017-18, showed that four other top bosses at Cumbria County Council were paid £146,512 a year in salary and pension. In recent years, Cumbria County Council has slashed the pay of its chief executive from £170,000 to £140,000.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “There are talented people in the public sector who are trying to deliver more for less, but the sheer scale of these packages raise serious questions.”