# Essex County Council: senior pay and councillor allowances

url: https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/pay-and-allowances/essex-county-council/
updated: 29 September 2026
licence: Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Figures: each source's own licence, listed under Sources.
publisher: [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk)

# Essex County Council: senior pay and councillor allowances



Last updated 29 September 2026.
Figures refresh every night. [How each figure is worked out](/methodology/).





In its draft statement of accounts for 2025-26, Essex County Council reports total remuneration of **£296,253** for its chief executive (including employer pension contributions), a year in which the post changed hands, **81** employees paid £100,000 or more, and **£1,906,000** paid in members' allowances.






## Key figures



- £296,253Chief Executive, 2025-26
- 81Staff paid £100,000 or more, 2025-26
- £1,906,000Members' allowances, 2025-26
- £14,471Basic allowance per councillor, 2025-26








## Chief Executive



Total remuneration of **£296,253** in 2025-26, including employer pension contributions.
Excluding pension contributions: £246,205.
The post changed hands, or the figure covers part of a year, so it is not compared with the year before.





| As printed | Year | Total |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Chief Executive - Miss Nicole WoodDetails | 2025-26 | £296,253 |
| Year2025-26 | | |
| Former Chief Executive - Mr Gavin JonesDetails | 2025-26 | £10,000 |
| Year2025-26 | | |
| Chief Executive - Miss Nicole WoodDetails | 2024-25 | £228,132 |
| Year2024-25 | | |
| Chief Executive - Mr Gavin JonesDetails | 2024-25 | £269,472 |
| Year2024-25 | | |





From the accounts: Nicole Wood became Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) on 14 February 2025; her 2024/25 figure covers both that role and her prior role as Executive Director, Corporate Services. Gavin Jones was Chief Executive until 13 February 2025; the 2025/26 £10,000 is the remainder of pay in lieu of notice. 'previous' shows the Nicole Wood line; the Gavin Jones 2024/25 line is also listed.



PDF pages 120-121, Note 37





## Employees paid £50,000 or more



2,633 employees in 2025-26, up 21.0% on 2024-25 (2,176).
81 were paid £100,000 or more, 5.1 per 100,000 residents. The median among the 4 other county councils collected so far is 6.0 per 100,000.





| Band | 2025-26 | 2024-25 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| £50,000 to £54,999Details | 932 | 774 |
| 2024-25774 | | |
| £55,000 to £59,999Details | 557 | 397 |
| 2024-25397 | | |
| £60,000 to £64,999Details | 274 | 228 |
| 2024-25228 | | |
| £65,000 to £69,999Details | 270 | 261 |
| 2024-25261 | | |
| £70,000 to £74,999Details | 213 | 169 |
| 2024-25169 | | |
| £75,000 to £79,999Details | 91 | 84 |
| 2024-2584 | | |
| £80,000 to £84,999Details | 60 | 48 |
| 2024-2548 | | |
| £85,000 to £89,999Details | 53 | 58 |
| 2024-2558 | | |
| £90,000 to £94,999Details | 56 | 60 |
| 2024-2560 | | |
| £95,000 to £99,999Details | 46 | 20 |
| 2024-2520 | | |
| £100,000 to £104,999Details | 12 | 20 |
| 2024-2520 | | |
| £105,000 to £109,999Details | 17 | 13 |
| 2024-2513 | | |
| £110,000 to £114,999Details | 15 | 4 |
| 2024-254 | | |
| £115,000 to £119,999Details | 3 | 4 |
| 2024-254 | | |
| £120,000 to £124,999Details | 4 | 5 |
| 2024-255 | | |
| £125,000 to £129,999Details | 12 | 14 |
| 2024-2514 | | |
| £130,000 to £134,999Details | 10 | 2 |
| 2024-252 | | |
| £135,000 to £139,999Details | 1 | 2 |
| 2024-252 | | |
| £140,000 to £144,999Details | 0 | 3 |
| 2024-253 | | |
| £145,000 to £149,999Details | 2 | 3 |
| 2024-253 | | |
| £150,000 to £154,999Details | 1 | 4 |
| 2024-254 | | |
| £155,000 to £159,999Details | 3 | 1 |
| 2024-251 | | |
| £180,000 to £184,999Details | 1 | 1 |
| 2024-251 | | |
| £230,000 to £234,999Details | 0 | 1 |
| 2024-251 | | |





Includes schools staff. Senior officers listed separately are not in these counts. From the accounts: Note 36: 'The numbers of officers whose remuneration amounted to £50,000 or more, grouped in rising bands of £5,000'; pension payments do not count as remuneration. Non-schools, Schools and Total columns; counts are Total (2,633 in 2025/26; 2,176 in 2024/25). 'Senior officers whose individual remuneration is disclosed in note 37 (page 120) are excluded from the remuneration bandings'. Dashes recorded as 0.



Source: Essex County Council, [Draft Statement of Accounts 2025/26](https://www.essex.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-06/unaudited%20draft%20statement%20of%20accounts%20-%202025%20to%202026%20-%20Essex%20County%20Council.pdf) (draft), PDF page 118, Note 36. Read by hand; checked 2026-09-24.





## Councillors' allowances



£1,906,000 in 2025-26, up 5.5% on 2024-25 (£1,807,000), or £1.21 per resident.
The median among the 4 other county councils collected so far is £1.29 per resident.





| Paid as | Total |
| --- | --- |
| Basic allowances | £1,076,289 |
| Special responsibility allowances | £803,234 |
| Expenses | £27,846 |
| All | £1,906,814 |





The basic allowance for each councillor is £14,471 a year (2025-26).



From the accounts: "Basic allowances 1,076 (2024/25 1,020); Special responsibility allowances 803 (758); subtotal 1,879 (1,778); Members expenses 27 (29); total 1,906 (1,807) £000" (PDF page 115, Note 34)



Published allowances: [Essex County Council Member Allowances 2025/26 - A report by Paul Turner, Director, Legal and Assurance, 15 July 2026](https://www.essex.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-07/Members%20Expenses%20and%20Allowances%20-%20Annual%20summary%20-%202025%20to%202026.pdf).





## What this data does and doesn't show



- Every figure is as Essex County Council 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 county councils read so far; no national figure is published for England.

- The annual summary lists each member (including two independent persons paid £750 each) without a totals row; figures are our column sums: Basic Pay 1,076,288.66; Special Responsibility 803,234.43; Mileage & Parking 24,448.26; Fares 2,991.57; Subsistence & Accommodation 20.00; Carers Allowance 386.50; 'Totals including VAT' 1,906,813.67. Three rows' printed totals are £185.25 lower than their Basic Pay, which the report's Note 1 attributes to an underpayment rectified in June 2026. The council web page states 'Indexation was applied in May 2025 and the basic allowance is now £14,471'; the summary shows a full-year Basic Pay of 14,409.29 paid in 2025/26.

## Related pages

- [Back to Council senior pay and councillor allowances](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/pay-and-allowances/)
- [How much is council tax and what does it pay for?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/council-tax/)
- [Who is my MP, and what does their office cost?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/mps/)
- [Where does my tax money actually go?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/for-every-100-pounds-of-tax/)

## More from this publisher

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Published by [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). The figures belong to the publishers listed under Sources and are used under their licences. Figures last updated 29 September 2026.