Lowest paid council employee gets £10.23 an hour – the boss gets £154,000

The average wage at West Berkshire Council is around £34,600.

The highest paid member of staff is the chief executive who gets £154,565.

The lowest paid employee gets £10.23 per hour.

The figures are revealed in a report to the council’s personnel committee amid continuing concerns over the recruitment and retention crisis.

There were 127 leavers between April and September last year. In the same period, 270 adverts were placed, although there has been a recruitment freeze since November last year.

That freeze was due for review in January.

Staff turnover has increased by more than 17 per cent in the past year. The majority of those leaving – 50 – are in adult social care.

Twenty-two people left the education service, 15 from development and regulation and 13 from the environment team.

At the end of last year, the average number of sick days taken at the council was around 10 days, with the majority citing stress as the reason.