Manchester City Council's chief executive has seen his salary soar above the £200,000 mark, despite an economic downturn, it has emerged. Sir Howard Bernstein, who leads the North West authority, has become the latest public sector high-flyer to come under scrutiny for his remuneration. He is now reputed to earn between £200,000 and £210,000 exceeding prime minister Gordon Brown's salary of £192,000. It puts Sir Howard among the top earning local authority chief executives in the country. According to the council's unaudited accounts, published last week, one person on the council payroll earned between £200,000 and £210,000, which was reported to be Sir Howard. There are a further 13 members of council staff earning more than £100,000. The accounts also reveal the council made a deficit of £218m for the year 2008-09, mostly due to the transfer of housing stock to social landlords. Without the transfer, the council claims it would have recorded a surplus of £12.2m.