£1 in every £4 of council tax pays for staff pensions

NEARLY £1 in every £4 of council tax is funding the retirement of town hall "pen-pushers", figures have revealed.

- Steph Spyro

They show 254 authorities paid £5billion into their staff pensions last year an average of 23.5% of their council tax revenue.

Hampshire County Council put in £281million, the single largest amount, into its staff pension, last year the equivalent of £4,658 for every member of staff, covering three years of contributions.

Birmingham, which declared effective bankruptcy last year, paid the second largest amount, £141.7million.

Burdens