Council’s staff wage bill up by £32.7m

Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

A Welsh council’s wage bill has increased by £32.7m in the last five years, with pension contributions also increasing by over £5m in the same period.

A freedom of information request has revealed that whilst council staff numbers have remained largely unchanged, Denbighshire Council’s staff costs have increased significantly.

In 2020 the council’s gross wage bill was £104,254,249.17, but this has now increased to £137,030,496.40 in 2024.

Similarly, pension payments have increased from £11,008,743.22 a year to £16,065,869.70 in 2024.

The figures also show that in 2020 the authority employed 4,780 staff compared to 4,645 in 2024, or 3,665.65 compared to 3,683.12 respectively, in terms of fulltime equivalent workers.

Whilst council tax increased this year by 6%, staff wages are set externally by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services.

According to Denbighshire’s financial reports, the authority received £215.222m in 2025/26 from the Welsh Government, an increase of £9.4m or 4.6% from the previous year.

Gross Pay

2020      104,254,249.17

2021      109,162,236.14

2022      119,620,958.66

2023      132,504,078.36

2024      137,030,496.40

Pensions

2020      11,008,743.22

2021      11,408,569.19

2022      12,839,579.86

2023      15,476,929.85

2024      16,065,869.70

Headcount and FTE

2020/2021         4780      3665.65

2021/2022         4620      3584.37

2022/2023         4805      3772.18

2023/2024         4825      3793.42

2024/2025         4645      3683.12

Denbighshire County Council was contacted for a comment.