The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published guidance which says senior public officials' salary bands should be publicly available as a matter of routine.
The guidance, When should salaries be disclosed?, explains that salary details, bonuses and performance related pay should be in the public domain to the nearest £5,000 band when there is a legitimate public interest. Disclosing exact salaries will only be required in exceptional circumstances.
Gerrard Tracey, assistant information commissioner, said: "Those who are paid from the public purse should expect information on their salaries to be made public. There is a legitimate public interest in knowing how public money is spent, how public sector salaries compare with those in other areas, and how money is distributed between different levels of staff."
It's usually the domain of the Taxpayers Alliance to reveal how much council top brass are paid. Its Town Hall Rich List last year named several HR professionals that enjoyed salaries well over £100,000.
It could be that this kind of information is more readily available in the future - something that will be increasingly sensitive if councils continue to cut jobs like many have done in response to falling budgets.
