by Simeon Brody
A poll on the Community Care website last week showed that a staggering 98% of social care professionals felt the pay gap between public sector senior management and staff had grown too wide. Rarely does a poll generate such overwhelming strength of feeling.
The poll itself was prompted by a report by the Taxpayer's Alliance which found that the 300 highest paid public sector bosses received an average 12.8% pay rise last year. And these are people who already earn in excess of £150,000 a year.
The survey did not include local authority senior managers, only bosses working in government departments, national public bodies, NHS trusts and quangos. The headline pay increase for local government chief executives and chief officers, including adults' and children's services directors was 2.475% in 2007-8.
But according to a survey by Local Government Employers, the real increases for top executives have been much higher, with a rise of 7% in 2005-6 for first-tier officers, such as directors, compared with a 2.95% settlement for the rest of the workforce.
There is nothing more annoying to staff on the ground than being lectured about "tight budgets" and "inflationary pressures" when money is magically found to give senior managers, who already earn far more than they do, a pay increase well beyond the one everyone else is expected to swallow. And let's not forget - 2% of £100,000 goes a lot further when it comes to meeting increased fuel/transport/council tax costs than 2% of £20,000.
And I think the whole argument about "competing with the private sector" is a red herring. It clearly does not bother employers and the government too much that experienced front line staff might be poached by the private sector because of sub-inflation pay rises, so why should it be such a big issue when it comes to senior managers?
Can and should the the gap be bridged? I'd be interested to hear your views!
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