Edinburgh council: Seven top executives received pay packages worth more than £200,000

But the number getting more than £100,000 was down on previous years, according to the annual list which is put together by the Taxpayers' Alliance.

It said that across the UK there were a record 3,906 officials receiving more than £100,000 in 2023/24, with 1,092 receiving over £150,000 and 262 on more than £200,000.

Marshall Dallas took up the role of chief executive at the EICC in October 2014. Picture: Stewart Attwood

But in Edinburgh the list includes only nine people employed by the council or its arms-length bodies who received over £100,000 compared with 21 on last year's list.

The council employee with the biggest pay package in the UK was Glasgow City Council chief executive Annemarie O’Donnell, who received a total of £567,317 including salary and pension contributions.

Top of the pile in Edinburgh was Marshall Dallas, who is about to stand down as chief executive of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. He received a salary of £169,056 plus a £51,904 bonus and pension contributions of £9,441, adding up to total remuneration of £240,401.

Mr Dallas announced his resignation in November after the council and developers scrapped plans for the EICC to have its own hotel. But Mr Dallas's bonus - the largest in the UK for the second year running - was said to cover "both the operational and hotel elements of the EICC".

Edinburgh City Council's Paul Lawrence was director of place before being made chief executive

The second biggest package went to Paul Lawrence, who is now council chief executive but was then director of place. His 2023/24 salary was £180,443 and he got £812 expenses / benefits, along with £40,961 pension contributions, giving him a total of £222,216.

In third place in the remuneration table was council education director Amanda Hatton, with a total of £220,916, made up of a £180,443 salary plus £948 in expenses / benefits and £39,525 pension contributions.

Number four on the list was Sara Boyd, interim managing director of Lothian Buses, who had a salary of £192,150, pension contributions of £25,072 and £1,557 "other", resulting in a total remuneration package of £218,779.

And in fifth place was Deborah Smart, the council's director of corporate services. She had a salary of £180,443 and received £315 in expenses / benefits and £38,002 pension contributions, giving a total of £218,760.

Edinburgh Trams managing director Lea Harrrison was next, with a salary of £177,030 and pension contributions of £26,375, adding up to a package worth £203,405.

And former council chief executive Andrew Kerr, who retired in June last year, received a total of £202,466, made up of £200,617 in salary and £1,849 in expenses / benefits. His figure did not include the £234 he received for his role as elections returning officer.

The list includes just two others from Edinburgh with remuneration packages over £100,000. They were former Transport for Edinburgh chief executive George Lowder on £161,428, made up of £159,162 salary and £2,256 "other"; and Rona Hunter, chief executive of Capital City Partnership, who received £88,214 in salary and £17,908 pension contributions, giving her a total of £106,122.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:"The number of council staff with six-figure remuneration packages has surged at the same time that services are being slashed and council tax is being hiked above inflation."

The city council does not set the remuneration of those employed by its arms-length organisations, such as EICC, Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams.

A council spokesperson said: “We want to promote transparency and accountability within the council and always publish the salaries and expenses of our most senior managers as part of our annual accounts.

“Several people identified in this report aren’t, however, directly employed by the council. For those we directly employ, rates of pay are determined by a wholly objective job evaluation scheme aligned to the national pay arrangements for chief officials, which reflect the level of responsibility for the roles concerned.”

An EICC spokesman said remuneration was based on performance criteria and the venue continued to perform strongly in both revenue terms and its impact on the local economy. In the next few weeks, the EICC is expected to report increased revenue and profits for last year.