The borough’s most highly-paid council officers pocketed more than £1.7 million last year, according to report released today.

Libertarian pressure group The Taxpayers’ Alliance on Tuesday published its annual Town Hall Rich List, which lists the council staff whose remuneration exceeds £100,000 a year.

A dozen officers in Barking and Dagenham fell into this category, five of whom earned more than £150,000.

The council’s finance director was the top earner, taking home £183,400. They received £60,200 in compensation on top of their £94,600 salary and around £28,600 in pension contributions.

The local authority’s strategic director for service development and improvement was in second place with earnings of £181,200, followed by the chief operating officer for customer, commercial and service delivery with £177,000.

The job titles of three employees with combined salaries of £367,500 a year – or £122,500 on average each – were not disclosed, the data show.

In London, the local authorities with the most employees who received remuneration in excess of £100,000 in 2017/18 were Hackney and Lambeth, each with 28.

Wandsworth’s chief executive Paul Martin received the biggest remuneration package across the capital: just over £294,800.

The TPA says there were “at least” 2,454 council employees who received total remuneration in excess of £100,000, up 148 from the previous year and the highest number since 2013/14.

Taxpayers’ Alliance chief executive Jon O’Connell said: “Disappointingly, many local authorities are now responding to financial reality through further tax rises and reducing services rather than scaling back top pay.”

He added: “There are talented people in the public sector who are trying to deliver more for less, but the sheer scale of these packages raise serious questions about efficiency and priorities.”

A spokesman for Barking and Dagenham Council said: “The Taxpayers’ Alliance list on senior salaries is out of date and relates to the financial year 2017/18.

“Since 2016, the council has reduced the numbers of senior managers and made savings of over £1 million in the process.

“On staff pay, salaries for the chief executive and other senior roles are set out in the Council’s pay policy. Barking and Dagenham’s chief executive is paid below the median for other London chief executives.

“For other senior staff, the council generally pays the same or lower than other neighbouring boroughs. The salary shown for the finance director role is actually sums paid to two different people over the year.”