Shadow communities secretary, Eric Pickles, has hit out at Tory councils for paying chief executives too much, in a move likely to widen the gap between central and local Conservatives. Mr Pickles has angered local government Tories by stepping into the row over officer pay, suggesting councils were ‘spending money like football managers' on chief executives' pay. He has called on councils to cut back, and consider sharing chief executives more. But most of the highly-paid chief executives he cited were from Tory councils. Chairman of the Local Government Association, Margaret Eaton, told The MJ: ‘This is a matter for local councils to look at how they want to run their own affairs.' She claimed it was up to councils to hire the best person for the job, which often required them to pay top rates of pay, but she added: ‘In the economic climate we are in, there will be an impact on salaries.' A spokesperson for SOLACE agreed it was local politicians who decided chief executive pay. He added: ‘There are not enough dedicated, workaholic, strategic managers to go round, and point-scoring with an eye on the next general election is not going to encourage more candidates to enter the field.'
