Kent and Norfolk paid IT bosses bonuses

Figures released to Kable by local authorities through Freedom of Information show that out of 41 local authorities that replied to requests for salary data, Kent and Norfolk were the only councils that paid their IT chiefs bonuses in the last four years. Kent, which has two heads of IT – one for operations and the other for commissioning – paid each a bonus of £8,120 in 2007-08 and £8,280 in 2008-09. Norfolk's head of IT was given bonuses worth £5,148 in 2007-08 and £5,290 in 2008-09. Neither authority paid such bonuses in 2009-10. LB Camden and Nottingham City Council suggested that they also paid their heads of IT or equivalent bonuses, but said they could not disclose the figures. "We are sorry to inform you that we cannot easily provide a breakdown for this figure because the figures for the requested financial years include national insurance and pensions contributions," said Camden. Nottingham said that releasing such figures "constitutes personal information about another person" and that it would therefore be "withholding this information". The data also reveals the highest paid IT chiefs out of the 41 councils, with LB Wandsworth coming top. Its head of IT's actual salary for 2009-10 was £106,000 – but that represented a fall on the £114,393 paid in 2008-09. LB Hillingdon was the second biggest payer, with its IT chief earning an average salary of £102,500 in 2009-10. Other local authorities in the top five for that year include Camden, which paid its head of IT a salary of £100,233; Manchester City Council, which paid its head of IT a salary of £96,957; and Norfolk, whose head of IT received a salary of £96,673. Michael Larner, senior analyst at Kable, believes that the data shows there is a consistency in the amount paid to IT bosses. "It is clear that the key metric for deriving salaries is the type of local authority the individual is employed at, but in times of austerity it is interesting to see that only single tier authorities lowered their salaries," he said. List of local government head of IT salaries and bonuses Correction: Kable originally published incorrect figures for Glasgow City Council, saying its head of IT was paid more than the others listed here.