Council chief executives to have pay cut?

Date: 07/01/2011

Council chief executives could soon have their high salaries cut, leading to a lack of employee motivation from the top down.

But the move, which suggests that no workers are exempt from public sector cuts, could help to boost employee motivation for other public workers, of which around 120,000 are expected to lose their jobs this year, according to Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) predictions.

Local authority HR directors have said that reducing the pay of chief executives should be considered, after communities secretary Ed Pickles proposed the idea last summer.

Mr Pickles said at the time that those earning more than £150,000 should take at least a five per cent pay cut.

But, according to a newspaper report, despite this advice, only seven out of 129 have made pay cuts.

According to People Management, Graham White, HR director of Westminster Council, said that his council's chief executive Mike More was "leading by example" with his decision to forego ten per cent of his contractual pay for 2010.

But, he added: "While this is an important element, taking small pay cuts is not going to solve the current problems in the public sector. We need to deliver the right services at the right cost, which includes outsourcing and shared working."

Posted by Jo Morgan

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