A COUNCILLOR has blasted the pay gap between the average council worker and directors after a former education chief appeared on a “rich list”.

Councillor Jim Bollan said changes must be made to close the gap between workers as former executive director of educational services Terry Lanagan made an appearance on the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) Rich List.

The former executive was listed as earning a remuneration package – earnings made up of salary, benefits, and pension contributions – of £197,952 for the year 2014/15 with an increase to £205,911 for 2015/16 – a package which would have seen him earn more than Prime Minister Theresa May.

However, upon further investigation by the Post, the TPA admitted they had made a calculation error.

The figure should have read £118,512 for 14/15 and £127,876 for 15/16 – £113,260 in salary plus £14,616 in pension contributions – an increase of £9,364 for the controversial former boss while the council made £2 million in cuts to public services.

Cllr Bollan, of the Community Party, said: “I genuinely believe that the salaries the management team and the chief executive get are too high. When you look at the services being cut, to me these are key valuable frontline services – we should be plying funding into them not paying off directors who get a huge pension paid for by the tax payer.”

During his eight years in the role, Mr Lanagan was criticised for the number of teacher walkouts due to stress, a staffing crisis at Clydebank High School and a proposal to cut the school day as part of a plan to save a further £17m over a three-year period.

A spokesman for teachers union the EIS said: “While the EIS would not comment on the salary paid to any individual, it is essential that all local authorities are open and transparent about levels of executive pay – particularly in an environment when public sector workers, including teachers, have been subject to pay freezes, pay caps and declining real-terms salaries in recent years.”

However, a spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council refutes the £9,364 “increase” was a wage rise – claiming instead it was part of a redundancy package for the 61-year-old who retired in 2016.

The spokeswoman said: “The £113,000 for 15/16 includes salary, statutory redundancy and pension payment.

“Mr Lanagan’s departure was part of a reduction in the number of senior staff which is generating savings of around £200,000 a year.”

Councillor Martin Rooney, council leader, added: “West Dunbartonshire pay rates for senior officers is comparable with similar sized councils.

“The important point for the Labour administration has always been to protect frontline jobs and maintain or improve the quality of services for our communities, despite the year-on-year cuts in funding.”