Falkirk Council has eight employees earning over £100,000 per year

Chief executive Kenneth Lawrie at the head of the top earners for Falkirk in the Taxpayers Alliance annual list, with a total remuneraton package of £180,363.

Three Falkirk Council directors all received packages totalling £133,614 each – director of development services Rhona Geisler, director of housing Stuart Ritchie and director of children’s services Robert Naylor.

For 2019-20 it ranks 12th out of 32 councils in Scotland on the list and 122nd in the UK.

According to Falkirk Council, however, takes exception to the Taxpayers Alliance figures.

A council spoksperson said: “Falkirk has not increased the salaries of senior officers in any way other than through its obligations to implement nationally agreed pay awards.

“The chief executive salary is determined nationally. All salaries were increased in line with nationally agreed pay awards which account for the increase in pay from the previous year.

“The council has also not appointed additional officers working at these levels.

“The figures suggested by the tax payers alliance do not represent the actual agreed salary of those individuals they are referring to but include pension contributions and payments made through our payroll for matters such as election payments.”

According to the London based Taxpayers Alliance, the local authority with the greatest number of employees whose remuneration was in excess of £100,000 was Essex county council with 40 employees, five more than the previous year.

In Scotland, meanwhile, Glasgow had by far the highest number of employees receiving over £150,000 at 14, two more than the previous year.