SEVERAL of Wirral Council’s chief officers have made it into the latest TaxPayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List.

The list claims the number of executives on the local authority’s payroll pulling salaries above £100,000 remained static at 11, however this figure has been refuted by the council who say there ar only six people on such salaries.

A spokesman for Wirral said: "Once again, the figures supplied by the Taxpayers Alliance are unreliable.

"We have six posts salaried £100,000 or more, which, given the scale of the council’s budget and workforce, is by no means excessive.

"These figures are readily available as part of the transparency code which requires us to publish this data annually."

Publication of the the list has prompted the Chancellor to promise to rein-in unacceptable pay and perks in the public sector.

George Osborne said he would be issuing new guidance to public sector employers as the figures showed "scope" for further savings.

An analysis by the Daily Mail and the Taxpayers' Alliance of almost 6,000 Freedom of Information requests found that in 2013/14 there were 537 council chiefs earning more than the Prime Minister.

Another 3,483 council staff, 5,084 in the NHS and 7,554 university staff earned more than £100,000 per year.

The newspaper said the investigation had also found thousands of council bosses were charging taxpayers for private medical insurance and public money was being used to "gag" council staff following scandals.

Mr Osborne told the Mail: "Taxpayers' money shouldn't be used to pay for private medical insurance, gagging orders to cover up bad practice aren't justified and salaries above a certain level should be approved through a formal process and published so the public who foot the bill know what's going on.

"I intend to issue new guidance sending a clear signal to public sector employers on pay and terms - setting out what I, and I suspect most taxpayers, see as unacceptable.

"What this shows is the scope that remains for savings at a time when budgets need to be trimmed. We're determined to do all we can to rein in excess where we find it."

The alliance said executive pay in many town halls across the UK “continues to be insulated from economic reality."

Jonathan Isaby, the organisation's chief executive, said: "With growing populations, reductions in central government grants in many areas, and a cap on council tax increases, many councils are reducing services.

"However, executive salaries in many local authorities remain high, raising questions over value for money for taxpayers. "

The local authority with the most employees in receipt of remuneration over £100,000 was Haringey with 68.

There were 130 councils with at least ten employees who received more than £100,000.

The council with the largest total remuneration package in the UK in 2013/14 was Jill Stannard, Chief Executive of Cumbria County Council - £411,025.

Remuneration was defined as including, but not being limited to: salary, fees, allowances, bonuses, benefits in kind, compensation for loss of office and employers’ pension contributions.