New Bristol City Council boss to receive £192,000 salary

The new chief executive of Bristol City Council will be on a £192,000 salary, which will rise each year.

The local authority had refused to disclose the amount Nick Hibberd would be paid when he begins in January, despite it being a legal requirement for figures to be published in its annual statement of accounts.

Cllr Kelvin Blake (Labour, Hillfields) has now successfully challenged the decision to withhold the figures.

In a written question to member forum on Tuesday, 12 November, he said: “It’s important for the public to know how taxpayer money is spent.

“Why have you not released the newly appointed chief executive’s salary?

“Please could you inform us of what the salary is?”

Council leader Cllr Tony Dyer (Green, Southville) replied: “We don’t usually comment on individual salary information as it is personal data.

“Salary bands are published in the pay policy statement on the council website and the remuneration of senior officers is also published on the website as part of our annual statement of accounts, which is a statutory requirement.

“However, I do have the permission of our newly appointed chief executive to release his salary information.

“The selection committee appointed him at the top of the pay band, which, taking into account the recent national pay award for local authority chief executives, is an annual salary of £191,843.”

That equates to £3,689.29 a week, or £737.86 daily, before tax.

Cllr Dyer said the role was graded independently using an approved method and comparing it with similar positions elsewhere.

He said Mr Hibberd’s salary would rise each year in line with national Joint Negotiating Committee pay awards for senior council officers.

At the meeting, Cllr Blake asked: “Would you agree with me that transparency around public spending is vital?

“I understand the sensitivities around salaries, however, it’s really important to maintain confidence from the public about how we spend public money and I wondered whether Tony would wholeheartedly agree with those sentiments?”

Cllr Dyer replied: “I agree it’s vitally important that we are very careful with how we spend public money.

“It’s also important that we respect individual privacy.

“What I can say in the interests of some additional information is that among the core cities, Bristol has the lowest salary paid to its chief executive.”

Full council unanimously approved the new top boss’s appointment in October.

Mr Hibberd, who will replace interim chief exec Paul Martin on 6 January, has more than 25 years’ experience at the top level of local government and most recently worked for London Borough of Croydon’s corporate management team.

He previously worked in various senior roles at Brighton and Hove City Council.

In August, Cllr Dyer warned the council was at risk of going bankrupt as it faced a £22m overspend.

• Credit: Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service