Almost half of the most highly paid public servants in Stafford Borough earn more than the Prime Minister, the Newsletter reveals this week.
Today we reveal the wage packages of Stafford’s highest paid officials - and as groups, organisations and individuals all face cutbacks and are forced to tighten their belts, we ask readers to decide if they are worth the £2.8m total price tag.
Our investigation focuses on 20 of the most prominent offcials in the borough, who are paid out of taxpayers’ money.
Among the NHS managers, council officials, MPs, housing association bosses and chief officers nearly 50 per cent earn more than David Cameron’s annual salary package of £142,500.
Now, we are asking locals in Stafford - who earn an average of £395 a week - to give their verdict on the figures.
At Stafford Hospital, chief executive Antony Sumara’s salary is £199,000, per annum. His contract is held by NHS South West which recharges his salary to Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust.
That eclipses the wage of ex-boss of Martin Yeates - who was earning £169,000 a year before he left.
In our emergency services, Chief Fire Officer Peter Dartford takes home £148,653 in salary, allowances and benefits in kind.
His deputy, Chris Enness, earned £119,150, while three assistant chief fire officers were paid around £106,000 each.
Anthony Marsh, chief executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, earns £232,000 - more than 14 times the salary of some ambulance drivers.
Meanwhile, Mike Cunningham - chief constable of Staffordshire - earns £139,119.
At our local authorities, Staffordshire County Council chief executive Nick Bell gets £195,000, while Stafford Borough Council’s chief executive, Ian Thompson, receives a total package of £105,980.
Chief executive of Cannock Chase District Council, Stephen Brown, has a salary of £112,281 with Steve Winterflood from South Staffordshire Council earning £104,831.
In our local educational establishments, Stephen Willis, principal of Stafford College, commands a salary of £143,537 while topping the earnings league is Professor Christine King, Vice-Chancellor and chief executive of Staffordshire University, who receives a total of £246,000.
At the top of local housing associations - the largely taxpayer-funded charitable groups, who provide a roof for millions of the most needy, the wages of chief executives all topped £100,000.
Chief executive Debbie Griffiths of Housing Plus in Acton Gate earns £129,096 while Karen Armitage of Stafford and Rural Homes earns £116,000 and Mick Kent of Bromford Housing takes home £181,275.
Local MPs Jeremy Lefroy for Stafford and Aidan Burley of Cannock Chase were the lowest earners with a basic wage of £65,738. However, Bill Cash takes home an extra £1,000 a month as chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said they could not reveal details of Stafford Prison governor Peter Small. However, he could be entitled to as much as £82,892.
And Neil Carr, chief executive of South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare is thought to earn around £165,000.
To tell us what you think about the wages of our top-earning public servants email the Newsletter editor@ staffordshirenewsletter.co.uk
