New city council chief to receive £192k salary

The incoming chief executive of a city council is set to be paid £192,000 a year, a council meeting has heard.

Nick Hibberd will receive the annual salary from Bristol City Council when he replaces the interim chief executive Paul Martin on 6 January.

His salary was revealed at a council meeting on Tuesday after councillor Kelvin Blake successfully challenged the decision to withhold the figures.

Council leader Tony Dyer, council leader, said Bristol had the "lowest salary paid to its chief executive among core cities".

He told councillors he received permission to reveal the salary after initially refusing due to personal data reasons.

Hibberd has more than 25 years' experience at a senior level of local government, and most recently worked for London Borough of Croydon's corporate management team, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Dyer said the role was graded independently using an approved method and comparing it with similar positions elsewhere.

He said Hibberd's salary would rise each year in line with national Joint Negotiating Committee pay awards for senior council officers.

"I agree it's vitally important that we are very careful with how we spend public money," Dyer said.

"It's also important that we respect individual privacy."

In August, Dyer warned the council was at risk of going bankrupt as it faced a £22m overspend.

Hibberd has been approached for comment about his salary.