Southampton Daily Echo: 'Fat cat' council bosses earn £58m

THE total pay bill for Hampshire council managers has gone up more than tenfold in the past decade while residents have seen council tax bills double.

The total wage bill for middle-ranking and senior officers in the county earning more than £50,000 has reached £58m a year.

Hampshire County Council employs more than 450 of the high earners and Southampton City Council 140.

The phenomenal rise in the past decade far outstrips the number of people in the rest of the economy on similar packages, whose pay has increased by less than three times.

The TaxPayers' Alliance, a campaign group which compiled the figures, described high-earning council managers as a new breed of "fat cats".

The revelations come as councils are preparing to set budgets for next year which include council tax hikes and cuts to frontline services.