Town hall rich list reveals Luton Council CEO's £250,000 salary

Luton Borough Council chief executive Robin Porter has made it onto the Town Hall Rich List 2023, after being paid a quarter of a million pounds a year.

The list created by the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) found that Mr Porter was the nineteenth highest-paid local government employee in 2021-2022 with earnings of £250,000.

The list documents the wages of employees at local authorities, and identifies the employees with the highest wages, or remunerations, in each area.

The ‘renumerations’ includes, but is not limited to, salary, employer’s pension, benefits in kind, expenses, bonuses and redundancy payments.

A spokesperson for the TPA said: “While Brits were struggling with the cost of living crisis, the number of council staff receiving more than £100,000 stood at 2,759, of which 721 received more than £150,000. Westminster council alone had 50 of these highly-paid employees.”

But Luton Council has defended Mr Porter’s wage. A spokesperson said: “We acknowledge these jobs pay very well and each of our senior staff is aware of the responsibility that comes with their salaries which are reported to our residents in an open and transparent way.

“Luton Council is a large, complex organisation with over 2,700 staff, more than 700 vital services being delivered to 225,000 residents, a £577 million budget and responsibility for £4.5 billion in commercial assets.”

They added: “So it is right that those in senior management positions, including the chief executive, have the leadership qualities, skills and experience to deliver these vital services which directly impact people’s lives across our communities in Luton.”