Performance pays?

Back at my desk after the predictably soggy Scottish trip and I was interested to read comments on the site with regard to a story on managers’ pay.

The article is concerns the assistant chief executive at Mid Sussex DC defending above inflation pay increases for its top line staff.

Six senior officers are set to get an average of £7,000 extra each, a move the council’s deputy chief executive Kathryn Hall has justified, saying the officers have taken on more responsibilities.

With less fears over the economy and the inevitable effect on the public purse (see MJ editor Michael Burton's blog), this may be fair comment.

But in these uncertain times, and the Prime Minister’s constant calls for restraint in public sector pay, it understandably grates.

Indeed, commentators on this story suggest that more junior officers have had additional burdens but have not had the reward.

Meanwhile, at the Lib Dem conference, Vince Cable, the party’s Treasury spokesman, told delegates that as part of a new tax-cutting pledge, he would force all ‘non-frontline’ public servants earning over £100,000 annually to re-apply for their jobs.

A spokesman later added that the move would be ‘more of a value for money exercise to ensure that people on high public sector salaries provide genuine value to their organisations’.

Pay is always a thorny issue. If you have further views, it’d be good to hear from you. If you have views you'd like to share, please use the link below.