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Lewisham Council paid more than £200k for Denise Radley

PICTURED: Lewisham Council paid more than £200k for Denise Radley

EXCLUSIVE BY:

Matthew Dresch

Council paid social care boss £205k-a-year in “shock” revelation

LEWISHAM Council forked out more than £205k – or roughly £1,000 a day – on its head of adult social care and health last year, we can reveal.

Our Freedom Of Information request discovered the council spent the whopping sum on Denise Radley through the agency Client Directs Limited.

She was by far the most expensive contractor on the council’s books last year, with the local authority paying £205,331 between March 1 2025 and February 28 2026.

This means her equivalent day rate was £1,092, which includes an “add-on fee” for the agency.

Chris Maines, the Lib Dem candidate for Blackheath, said her pay was “eye-wateringly high” and will come as a “shock” to many locals.

It appears Ms Radley makes even more than the council's chief executive Jennifer Daothong
PICTURED: It appears the council spent more on Ms Radley than it pays its chief executive Jennifer Daothong

He told the Lewisham Letter: “The director of adult social care and health is a vitally important role in ensuring the protection of vulnerable people but the cost of over £1,000 per day for a single employee is eye wateringly high. 

“This salary demonstrates personal greed and must really infuriate the clients of Lewisham’s adult care department. It will shock many of the people in their care, who struggle to survive financially. 

“Council tax in Lewisham has gone up by 23% over the last four years – you can see why residents don’t think they are getting value for money.

“We see on a daily basis the inertia around Lewisham Council, it takes an age to do anything. You hope that senior appointments would be made with a sense of urgency to avoid costly agency fees.”

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It appears the council forked out more cash on Ms Radley than it pays its own chief executive, Jennifer Daothong, who earns £201k a year according to the local authority’s 2025/26 pay statement.

Lewisham Council said Ms Radley will soon be employed directly by the local authority instead of through a contractor.

A spokesman for the council said: “The Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health was engaged on an interim basis through an agency at the prevailing market rate for senior statutory leadership roles in social care.

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“Interim arrangements of this kind are sometimes necessary to ensure stability and continuity in services.

“Following a formal recruitment process, the individual was appointed to the role on a permanent basis earlier this year and will shortly be employed directly by the Council rather than through a contractor.

“The permanent salary for the post is set in line with the Council’s senior pay framework and is published annually in our Pay Policy Statement.”

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