Job adverts at Westminster Council boast of an “unmatchable work-life balance” and it being accredited by Timewise, a flexible working consultancy, while the Essex authority said last September it expected almost 6,000 of its 7,700 staff to work hybrid post-Covid.

Ministers have struggled to encourage civil servants back to offices, leading to warnings of struggling city centre businesses and backlogs in some services.

The highest remuneration in the latest figures was for Jo Negrini, the former chief executive of Croydon Council, who received £613,895 including a large payout when she stood down in September 2020, two months before the council effectively declared bankruptcy.

601 council chiefs earned more than Boris Johnson’s salary

The report of 378 latest council accounts found 601 council chiefs earned more than Boris Johnson’s claimed salary last year of £157,372, compared to 615 and 618 in the previous two years when the UK Prime Minister’s salary was lower.

A total of 23 local authority employees received a “golden handshake” loss of office payment of more than £95,000 – the former cap on payoffs for public sector employees before this was scrapped. 

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers facing a cost of living crisis want to know they are getting value for money from their local authority leadership.

“During the Covid pandemic, households were locked down and frontline staff were overworked, yet a record number of council chiefs walked away with pay packets worth more than £150,000 while the country was working from home.”

Last year the LGA’s head of workforce, Naomi Cooke, said following a meeting of 135 councils that the sector was to “truly embrace hybrid working models” post-Covid.

In response to the report, an LGA spokesman said: “Councils are large, complex organisations with sizeable budgets and responsibility for more than 1,300 different statutory duties and responsibilities that make a huge difference to people’s lives. It is important that the right people with the right skills and experience are retained to deliver this important work.

“Senior pay is always decided by democratically elected councillors in an open and transparent way.”

Mr Love, chief executive of Westminster City Council, said it was a “high-profile local authority with unique responsibilities at the heart of the capital”. 

“As such, we need to recruit the best talent for managing within a complex organisation whose work involves partnership with central Government, the multi-billion economy of the West End and 260,000 residents. The salaries paid reflect the skills needed to lead the authority in a post-pandemic world,” he said.

 “There has been increased recruitment at a senior level to replace a number of interim staff with permanent employees which will result in a saving to the council.

 “In common with many private sector companies, we offer flexible working. But it is important to stress that a majority of our staff are in the office every week or on site in other locations across Westminster, and all council buildings remained open during the pandemic.”