DUDLEY'S council chief will now be earning almost £170,000 a year following a local government pay rise.

Senior officers at the authority will see their combined pay packets increase by more than £20,000 after local government employers and trade union officials agreed an improved national pay offer.

The increase will see the total wage bill for the chief executive, Sarah Norman, and 10 other directors rise to £1,198,399 a year after the deal is separately agreed by the council.

Overall, the executive wage bill at Dudley Council will increase by £30,000 – including employer’s national insurance contributions and superannuation.

The pay increase brings senior officers in line with other council staff, who also agreed a two per cent increase for the next two years.

Sarah Norman’s pay will now rise to £169,983 from £166,650, backdated to April this year.

The trade union for local authority senior officers, ALACE, accepted a revised pay offer of two per cent for this year and next after rejecting an initial offer of only one per cent for 2018.

Accepting the offer on behalf of her members Tracey Lee, chair of ALACE, said: “We warmly welcome the improved offer from the employers, which we have accepted at once.

“We are grateful for the employers’ further consideration of our claim following the initial offer in April which ALACE was not able to accept.”