SUFFOLK'S local authorities will have to identify officers earning a salary of more than �150,000 under new rules being brought in next month.

Graham Dines

SUFFOLK'S local authorities will have to identify officers earning a salary of more than �150,000 under new rules being brought in next month.

A number of councils across England have criticised the Government over the new rules, including Suffolk's Forest Heath District Council. It has raised concerns about the misuse of the information for “personalised attacks and mischief-making.”

The current requirement is that in their annual report and accounts, local authorities have to tell taxpayers how many people are in each salary band above �50,000.

Under the new guidelines, in Suffolk only county council chief executive Andrea Hill - whose salary is in band �200,000-�209,000 - will have to be identified by name. No other officer earns more than �130,000.

Essex County Council will have to identify the three officers whose salaries break through the �150,000 barrier.

Currently, one - chief executive Joanna Killian - is paid in the band �240,000-�249,999 with two other senior officers earning between �150,000 and �159,999.

Criticism by councils of the new rules has led to the Taxpayers' Alliance accusing them of trying to block better transparency. “It is pure emotional blackmail to claim that anyone's children could be threatened by improved pay transparency in local government,” said campaign director Mark Wallace.

A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “The taxpayer - the real pay boss - has a legitimate right to see this information and decide whether or not it is fair.”