INFORMATION about the pay of senior staff at Thurrock Council has been updated – and reveals the huge amounts being paid to agencies who introduce officers to the council.

The latest list of what officers earn can be viewed via this link. It is a year out of date, as legislation allows the council to keep current pay a secret. The figures relate to what the council was paying on 1 April, 2025.

Sixteen officers at the council earn more than £100,000 - though the reality is that the council pays out much more for the officers' expertise.

For example, the actual pay of two officers featured in the recently-published Taxpayers' Alliance 'rich list' is significantly lower than what they cost the council when agency fees are taken into account. Details of that report and the council's soaring officer costs can be found here.

Details of top tier officers, including those who receive more than £150,000 and must be named, are shown here.

Among them is the council's interim executive director place, Claire Demmel. In the Alliance 'rich list' – complied from Freedom of Information requests and other sources – Ms Demmel was quoted as earning £283,844 while her colleague, place operational director Paul Crick, was reported to have cost council taxpayers £277,344.

However, Ms Demmel (who recently voluntarily switched to a fixed term personal contract that saved the council money) is listed in the latest figures as earning between £160,001 and £165,000. Council pay figures state Mr Crick's salary is between £110,001 and £115,000 and he is not in bracket of officers whose level of salary means he must be named.

The difference in the numbers may include employers' NI and pension costs but that still shows the significant amounts being paid to external agencies.

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Dr Dave Smith leads a council team of highly paid executives.

The CEO of the council, Dr Dave Smith, was on a salary of around £245,000 on 1 April last year.

Other named officers include Alex Powell (assistant chief executive; between £160,001 and £165,000), Robert Persey (interim executive director of adults & health; between £165,001 and £170,000), Sheila Murphy (director of children's services; between £165,001 and £170,000), Dawn Calvert (chief financial officer; between £165,001 and £170,000) and Daniel Fenwick (executive director of corporate services and monitoring officer; between £160,001 and £165,000).

206 members of staff earn between £55,000 and £80,000 while 32 earn between £80,000 and £100,000.

A total of 425 members of staff out of an estimated workforce of around 2,356 people earn more than £50,000.

The average UK wage in 2026 is estimated to be £31,188.

Concern was raised and the question asked:

The issue of agency staff working within the council has been a concern for some time, as reported on Thurrock Nub News last year when our report highlighted that the estimated bill for agency workers was expected to reach £17.2 million by the end of the 2025/26 financial year – £800,000 more than the previous year.

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There has been a very high turnover of senior officers at Thurrock Council over recent years – with many who departed getting significant payouts. This was highlighted in a 2023 Thurrock Nub News story as far back as 2023 and also last september when we revealed the council had spent £4.3 million to axe staff.

The listing of the latest figures came after requests from Thurrock Nub News to ensure they were published on the correct date (30 April). Initially some links were not working but that has been fixed today after we pointed it out.

Last year the council delayed publishing the figures until November – and only did so after pressure from Thurrock Nub News editor Neil Speight.

Today Mr Speight said: "I was pleased to see the latest list – and that broken links were fixed after I pointed them out – but it's still, I believe, a sad indictment that residents only get information from two years ago.

"It may be the law that permits the council to hide its true salary structure but given this is a broken and failed council, working under a specific government directive to be open, honest and transparent, I find it very disappointing that the financial truth is not before us.

"And that we really have no idea just how much money is being spent on agencies and the like – and how many unnamed or unaccounted 'consultants' are on the payroll. It's possible to track some of them down through the 'payments to suppliers portal' but it's hardly an open and transparent way of doing things."