West Midlands Combined Authority: Super council CEO to be paid £180k

The West Midlands Combined Authority is proposing to pay its first chief executive between £160,000 and £180,000, the Express & Star has learnt.

The figure dwarfs that of the £79,000 salary agreed for the region's first mayor who will be voted in on May 4.

On Tuesday the Express & Star is hosting the first public West Midlands Mayor debate - and YOU can be a part of it.

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The combined authority will be chaired by the mayor and is made up of the council leaders of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell, Birmingham, Solihull, and Coventry.

It will be responsible for spending of around £40 million a year on transport, housing, skills, economic development, and mental health.

The chief executive will be 'head of paid service' for the combined authority and work with the mayor to run the body's administration.

Wolverhampton council's managing director Keith Ireland, who is currently acting as clerk and monitoring officer for the combined authority, is believed to be one of the front runners for the job alongside Coventry City Council's chief executive Martin Reeves.

Currently council bosses from across the region are running the body alongside their day jobs at their local authorities before the mayor is elected and takes power.

Mr Ireland previously said he expected the mayor to be paid around £50,000 but the real salary was confirmed as £79,000 last month.

The chief executive's proposed salary of up to £180,000 would be in line with the equivalent role at the Greater Manchester authority.

The Express & Star also understands that around £50,000 will be spent recruiting the new chief executive – £20,000 for consultants Gatenby Sanderson to carry out recruitment and £30,000 on advertising.

The combined authority was created as part of former Chancellor George Osborne's devolution campaign to give English regions more power and funding previously held by the government.

But part of the deal was to have an elected mayor – also known as a 'metro mayor'.

Candidates for the mayoralty are Andy Street for the Conservatives, Sion Simon for Labour, Beverley Neilsen for the Lib Dems, Pete Durnell for UKIP, and James Burn for the Green Party.

West Midlands Combined Authority declined to comment.