Europe

Home page

Europe

Iâ€™m paid too much, says police chief, and so are lots of other public service bosses

12 April 2010 23:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The pay packages of public sector chief executives are unjustifiable, irresponsible and must be reined in, according to one of Britainâ€™s top police officers, APA reports quoting â€œTimes Onlineâ€. Writing in The Times today, Sir Norman Bettison, the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, said that his Â£213,000 salary and pension package was too large.
Sir Norman, who waived his performance-related bonus last year, said that it was symptomatic of the misguided strategy of offering enormous remuneration packages to tempt private sector talent into the NHS, police force, local government and Civil Service.
He said that public sector leaders who followed their vocation were doing jobs they would have done happily for a lot less pay. Rather than focusing on long-term visions for services, the culture encouraged short-term fixes from managers â€œwho get a remuneration package never dreamed of for their few short years in postâ€.
Sir Normanâ€™s comments come as a report shows that the average salary of the most senior NHS managers has more than doubled over the past decade, boosted by annual pay rises that exceed recommendations.
A review of boardroom pay, published today, found that chief executives of foundation trusts â€” the top band of NHS trusts â€” earned Â£157,500 in the year to March 2009 and had a 7.8 per cent salary rise. The report, from Incomes Data Services (IDS), showed that the average pay rise for chief executives across the health service was 6.9 per cent â€” the equivalent to an annual salary rise of almost Â£10,000. It followed a 6.4 per cent rise in 2007-08.
The findings, based on data from more than 380 NHS trusts in England, including primary care, mental health and ambulance trusts, prompted an angry reaction from union leaders over the â€œupstairs-downstairsâ€ approach to pay in the NHS.
Concerns were also raised at the rewards given to foundation trusts chief executives â€” paid on average Â£10,000 more than other NHS chief executives.
Foundation trust status is a supposed marker of excellence, with greater financial freedoms. However, of the 22 NHS trusts given warnings this month over standards of care, 12 were foundation trusts.
David Cameron announced last week that public sector chiefs could expect to have their salaries cut under a Conservative government. He said it would ensure that no senior manager in the public sector could earn 20 times more than others in their organisation.
The IDS report found that the highest-paid chief executive was at Guyâ€™s and St Thomasâ€™ in London, with mid-point earnings of Â£270,000. At Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, the chief executive received Â£237,500 while at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the chief executive was paid Â£217,500.
In 2008-09 senior managers in NHS trusts linked to a national pay agreement received a 2.2 per cent rise. Nurses got 2.75 per cent in 2008-09 and 2.5 per cent in April this year.
Steve Tatton, editor of the IDS NHS Boardroom Pay Report 2010, said: â€œIt seems that the equation has fallen on the side of high salary awards with pay continuing to run ahead of the rest of the workforce.â€
Sharon Holder, GMB national officer, said it was a â€œdisgraceâ€ to have an â€œupstairs-downstairs model, with top echelons on the gravy train and low-paid workers whose job it is to stop the spread of viruses not getting pay they are entitled to without going on strikeâ€.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: â€œNHS and foundation trusts are independent organisations and set their senior pay in the light of the recommendations of their independent remuneration committees â€” there are no central targets.â€