New Suffolk chief pay set at £157,000

The new chief executive of Suffolk CC is likely to be paid a basic salary of around £157,000 a year – significantly less than the county's former chief officer, Andrea Hill, received.

Suffolk's new Conservative leader, Cllr Mark Bee, will begin interviewing for an interim chief executive next week, following Ms Hill’s decision to stand down from her post following an external legal investigation into bullying allegations and concerns over her expenses. He will also initiate the longer-term search for a permanent replacement.

Senior Westminster politicians, including communities secretary Eric Pickles, had long held concerns over Ms Hill's former annual salary of £218,000 and had attempted to get her to take a 10 per cent pay cut – something she declined.

During the current period of council spending austerity, Mr Pickles has asked all council chiefs earning more than £200,000 to take a 10 per cent pay cut, while he wants those on more than £150,000 to volunteer a 5 per cent reduction in their salary.

The salary package for the next chief executive – which is also expected to include performance-related bonuses – would fall comfortably within Mr Pickles' expectations for the role.

Cllr Bee said: 'I want Suffolk to be seen as lowering the bar on high salaries for chief executives. We see this very much a...sending a very clear signal that we now have to cut the cloth accordingly, and that starts at the top'.

He also revealed that he wants the interim chief to begin work in August. 'At the same time we're looking at the new chief, and we want that [interim] role to move on very quickly so there is no time lost,' he explained.

While the legal inquiry into Ms Hill's role at Suffolk found no firm evidence of wrongdoing on her part, Cllr Bee announced last month that she had agreed to leave the authority as it pursues a fresh start following the legal case and the collapse of the New Strategic Direction - an unpopular cost-cutting plan to outsource swathes of the county's services, managed by Ms Hill.