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Cornwall: 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, Cornwall reports total remuneration of £247,796 for its chief executive (including employer pension contributions), 26 employees paid £100,000 or more, and £2,131,000 paid in members' allowances.
Key figures
- £247,796Chief Executive, 2025-26
- 26Staff paid £100,000 or more, 2025-26
- £2,131,000Members' allowances, 2025-26
- £19,430Basic allowance per councillor, 2026-27
Chief Executive
Total remuneration of £247,796 in 2025-26, including employer pension contributions. That is up 3.5% on 2024-25 (£239,479). The median among the 4 other unitary councils in England collected so far is £242,676.
From the accounts: Chief Executive - Kate Kennally. 2025/26: salary, fees and allowances 208,114; expense allowances 846; pension 38,836; total 247,796. 2024/25: 201,661; 1,178; 36,640; 239,479. Total excluding pension is not printed.
PDF page 89 (printed page 87), Note 30
Employees paid £50,000 or more
1,193 employees in 2025-26, up 25.7% on 2024-25 (949). 26 were paid £100,000 or more, 4.5 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 | 447 | 417 |
| ||
£55,000 to £59,999Details for £55,000 to £59,999 | 305 | 183 |
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£60,000 to £64,999Details for £60,000 to £64,999 | 135 | 129 |
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£65,000 to £69,999Details for £65,000 to £69,999 | 116 | 57 |
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£70,000 to £74,999Details for £70,000 to £74,999 | 47 | 38 |
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£75,000 to £79,999Details for £75,000 to £79,999 | 32 | 32 |
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£80,000 to £84,999Details for £80,000 to £84,999 | 32 | 18 |
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£85,000 to £89,999Details for £85,000 to £89,999 | 19 | 29 |
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£90,000 to £94,999Details for £90,000 to £94,999 | 25 | 10 |
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£95,000 to £99,999Details for £95,000 to £99,999 | 9 | 7 |
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£100,000 to £104,999Details for £100,000 to £104,999 | 4 | 1 |
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£105,000 to £109,999Details for £105,000 to £109,999 | 2 | 6 |
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£110,000 to £114,999Details for £110,000 to £114,999 | 1 | 4 |
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£115,000 to £119,999Details for £115,000 to £119,999 | 5 | 4 |
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£120,000 to £124,999Details for £120,000 to £124,999 | 2 | 6 |
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£125,000 to £129,999Details for £125,000 to £129,999 | 5 | 0 |
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£130,000 to £134,999Details for £130,000 to £134,999 | 0 | 1 |
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£135,000 to £139,999Details for £135,000 to £139,999 | 1 | 1 |
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£140,000 to £144,999Details for £140,000 to £144,999 | 0 | 0 |
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£145,000 to £149,999Details for £145,000 to £149,999 | 1 | 1 |
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£150,000 to £154,999Details for £150,000 to £154,999 | 1 | 1 |
| ||
£155,000 to £159,999Details for £155,000 to £159,999 | 0 | 2 |
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£160,000 to £164,999Details for £160,000 to £164,999 | 0 | 0 |
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£165,000 to £169,999Details for £165,000 to £169,999 | 3 | 1 |
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£200,000 to £204,999Details for £200,000 to £204,999 | 0 | 1 |
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£205,000 to £209,999Details for £205,000 to £209,999 | 1 | 0 |
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Includes schools staff. Includes senior officers. From the accounts: 'The Council's employees receiving more than £50,000 remuneration for the year (excluding employer's pension contributions)': School Staff (teachers and other school-based staff), Other Staff and Total; counts are Total (1,193 in 2025/26; 949 in 2024/25). 'Consistent with the approach taken in prior years, this table includes senior employees also included in the previous table. It does not include employees of Joint Committees.' Dashes recorded as 0.
Source: Cornwall, Statement of Accounts 2025/26 (draft), PDF pages 89-90 (printed pages 87-88), Note 30. Read by hand; checked 2026-09-24.
Councillors' allowances
£2,131,000 in 2025-26, down 0.4% on 2024-25 (£2,139,000), or £3.64 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 | £1,594,351 |
| Special responsibility allowances | £455,561 |
| Expenses | £50,886 |
| All | £2,100,799 |
The basic allowance for each councillor is £19,430 a year (2026-27).
From the accounts: "Allowances 2.071 (restated 2024/25 2.085); Expenses* 0.015 (0.011); Travel 0.045 (0.043); Total 2.131 (2.139) £m. *Prior year comparator amended as incorrectly stated last year." (PDF page 88 (printed page 86), Note 29)
Published allowances: Allowances Paid to Councillors 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
What this data does and doesn't show
- Every figure is as Cornwall 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.
- Accounts treated as draft: the auditor's report pages read 'To follow on completion of the Audit.' The latest allowances-paid publication found is 2024-25 (no 2025-26 list on the council page at the time of checking). It prints only a grand total (£2,100,798.51); basic, SRA and expenses are our column sums (expenses = Travel and subsistence 42,564.57 + Dependents Carers' Allowance 8,321.75) and reconcile to the printed total. Basic rate is from the Members' Allowances Scheme (Updated June 2026) schedule 'from 1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027': Basic allowance, all Councillors, £19,429.51. The council's 'support available to councillors' page states a Basic Allowance of £18,367.84 without a year; the 2024-25 list shows 18,367.80 for a full year.