The chief executive of East Cambs District Council can earn up to £129,904 a year basic salary and also currently enjoys nearly £7,000 a year car allowance and private health insurance.

The lowest paid worker is paid at a full-time equivalent of £14,514.

The figures are revealed in a report setting out the authority’s pay policy statement for 2017/18 which is due to go to full council when it meets on Thursday (23).

However, the council’s statement of accounts for 2015/16 show the chief executive actually took home a total of £159,803 with pension contributions included with the car and health insurance payments.

In her report, Nicola Pema, HR manager, explains the council is required by law to have a pay policy statement setting out the pay packages for all posts on the council designated as ‘chief officer’.

It also has to include the pay of the lowest paid employee.

The report shows the current salary scales (as of January 1) and explains from April this year progression up the pay scale for officers will be determined each year as part of the annual appraisal.

Only those officers awarded a rating of either ‘excellent’ or ‘outstanding’ will be entitled to an increment rise.

Figures show that the minimum basic pay for the chief executive is £118,097, with four increments rising to a maximum of £129,904.

The council’s two directors (operations and commercial) both have the same pay scale starting at £63,624 and rising to £69,993.

But in 2015/16 the operations director earned a total of £89,166 and the commercial director took home £69,913 - with pension contributions and other payments.

East Cambs’ chief financial officer is provided by Peterborough City Council on a contract basis, so is not included in the salary scales.

The legal services manager receives an extra £3,554 per year for also acting as the monitoring officer.

And the director of operations gets an extra £3,449 a year for being an emergency pager holder.

The chief executive’s BUPA membership costs £595 per year - but the scheme is now closed to staff so anyone taking on the role will not get this perk in the future.

The £6,964 a year car allowance also enjoyed by the current chief executive will not be available to any future post holders.

The ‘chief officers’ also get professional subscriptions paid, are entitled to childcare and also a relocation scheme (where applicable for new staff).

The council currently has 13 pay scales - scale 1 is the lowest. Each job is allocated to a scale through an evaluation process.

The scales rise by the national pay award when it is notified by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services.

The pay policy statement - once agreed by councillors - will be published on the council’s website. The council already publishes details of all staff paid above £50,000 on its website.