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Bristol: senior pay and councillor allowances
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
In its draft statement of accounts for 2025-26, Bristol reports total remuneration of £237,281 for its chief executive & head of paid service (including employer pension contributions), a year in which the post changed hands, 14 employees paid £100,000 or more, and £1,752,000 paid in members' allowances.
Key figures
- £237,281Chief Executive & Head of Paid Service, 2025-26
- 14Staff paid £100,000 or more, 2025-26
- £1,752,000Members' allowances, 2025-26
- £18,227Basic allowance per councillor, current (web page checked September 2026)
Chief Executive & Head of Paid Service
Total remuneration of £237,281 in 2025-26, including employer pension contributions. Excluding pension contributions: £197,982. The post changed hands, or the figure covers part of a year, so it is not compared with the year before. The median among the 5 other unitary councils in England collected so far is £244,575.
From the accounts: 2025/26: N Hibberd, Apr '25 - Mar '26: salary, fees and allowances 197,982; pension 39,299; total 237,281. 2024/25 lines as printed: S Peacock, Apr-Jun '24 (left 9 June 2024), total 43,177 (pension 7,286); P Martin, Chief Executive & Head of Paid Service (Interim), Jun-Dec '24, total 231,314 'cost inclusive of agency fees', no pension; N Hibberd, from 6 January 2025, salary 45,382, pension 9,213, total 54,595. totalExclPension is the printed 'Salary, Fees and Allowances' column.
PDF pages 85-86 (printed pages 82-83)
Employees paid £50,000 or more
1,042 employees in 2025-26, up 15.6% on 2024-25 (901). 14 were paid £100,000 or more, 2.8 per 100,000 residents. The median among the 7 other unitary councils in England collected so far is 4.9 per 100,000.
| Band | 2025-26 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|
£50,000 to £54,999Details for £50,000 to £54,999 | 459 | 446 |
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£55,000 to £59,999Details for £55,000 to £59,999 | 252 | 171 |
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£60,000 to £64,999Details for £60,000 to £64,999 | 63 | 59 |
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£65,000 to £69,999Details for £65,000 to £69,999 | 71 | 71 |
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£70,000 to £74,999Details for £70,000 to £74,999 | 42 | 47 |
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£75,000 to £79,999Details for £75,000 to £79,999 | 53 | 42 |
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£80,000 to £84,999Details for £80,000 to £84,999 | 41 | 32 |
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£85,000 to £89,999Details for £85,000 to £89,999 | 32 | 6 |
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£90,000 to £94,999Details for £90,000 to £94,999 | 9 | 9 |
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£95,000 to £99,999Details for £95,000 to £99,999 | 6 | 6 |
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£100,000 to £104,999Details for £100,000 to £104,999 | 2 | 2 |
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£105,000 to £109,999Details for £105,000 to £109,999 | 2 | 2 |
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£110,000 to £114,999Details for £110,000 to £114,999 | 3 | 0 |
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£115,000 to £119,999Details for £115,000 to £119,999 | 0 | 2 |
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£120,000 to £124,999Details for £120,000 to £124,999 | 1 | 1 |
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£125,000 to £129,999Details for £125,000 to £129,999 | 1 | 2 |
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£130,000 to £134,999Details for £130,000 to £134,999 | 1 | 2 |
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£135,000 to £139,999Details for £135,000 to £139,999 | 3 | 1 |
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£140,000 to £144,999Details for £140,000 to £144,999 | 1 | 0 |
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Includes schools staff. Senior officers listed separately are not in these counts. From the accounts: 'In addition to the remuneration of senior employees set out above, the number of the Council's employees receiving more than £50,000 remuneration for the year (excluding employer's contributions)'. Printed as separate Schools and Non-Schools columns with no combined column; totals Schools 201 / Non-Schools 841 (2025/26) and 175 / 726 (2024/25). Dashes recorded as 0.
Source: Bristol, Bristol City Council 2025 26 Draft Statement of Accounts (draft), PDF page 87 (printed page 84). Read by hand; checked 2026-09-24.
Councillors' allowances
£1,752,000 in 2025-26, up 8.2% on 2024-25 (£1,619,000), or £3.54 per resident. The median among the 7 other unitary councils in England collected so far is £3.81 per resident.
| Paid as | Total |
|---|---|
| Basic allowances | £1,246,184 |
| Special responsibility allowances | £482,666 |
| Expenses | £2,172 |
| All | £1,746,522 |
The basic allowance for each councillor is £18,227 a year (current (web page checked September 2026)).
From the accounts: "The Council paid the following amounts to members of the Council during the year. Allowances 1,752 (2024/25 1,619) £'000" (PDF page 84 (printed page 81), note 12)
Published allowances: Councillors statement of allowances paid 2025 2026 (spreadsheet: Councillor Remuneration for year ending 31/03/2026).
What this data does and doesn't show
- Every figure is as Bristol printed it, in accounts that have not yet been audited. Counts in the £100,000 figure are our sum of the council's bands.
- Comparisons are with the other unitary councils in England read so far; no national figure is published for England.
- Published 2025/26 statement is a spreadsheet listing 70 councillors with no totals row; figures are our column sums: Basic Allowance 1,246,184.44; Extra Responsibility Allowance 482,665.94; 'Allowance' 15,500.00; Broadband 0; Travel 2,171.64; Other Expenses 0; Child Care 0; Total ER Cost 1,746,522.02. 'sra' is the Extra Responsibility Allowance column; 'expenses' is travel, other expenses, child care and broadband; the unlabelled 'Allowance' column (15,500) is in the total only. The council web page states 'The basic allowance of £18,227 is paid to all 70 councillors' without giving the year; the 2025/26 spreadsheet shows full-year basic payments of 17,645.04 to 17,951.07.