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My Scouser friend, Ruby, insists that Liverpool has always done its own thing, usually based on the premise ‘… we are special and unique'. So paying £195,000 for a new chief executive seems standard behaviour. Hamish Davidson is chairman of Entrepreneurs in Action In a Big Society world, my advice to councils thinking of following Liverpool's lead is: establish a remuneration committee, which includes independent and community members l ensure that person specifications are not so narrowly written that only one or two people can do the job insist on full and proper feedback from the interview process, and coaching/mentoring for those who are appointed. It is in your interests that those who get the job succeed – and don't fail immediately implement a robust, twice-yearly performance-evaluation mechanism which includes independent facilitation, agreeable to both sides do not offer bonuses or big pay-offs for people who ‘fail' to deliver their objectives – unless, of course, it can be shown that it was a ‘political' or ‘face didn't fit with the new leader' issue, as opposed to a ‘delivery' problem provide full transparency of remuneration and performance-evaluation summaries. And my advice to ministers? Ease up on the hectoring, disparaging comments, and the misleading comparisons to the prime minister's salary. Do you want to have your policies put in place? Do you hope to see these cuts delivered by people who know how to transform and shrink services, quickly and safely? Then you need the best people to do that – and you'll have to pay them accordingly. And if you have a problem with top pay, implement the recommendations from the comprehensive report on this subject published in December 2009 by the public administration select committee. Provided councils are prepared to abide by the principles above, let them make their own decisions. Allow them to justify those decisions to their local communities – and be booted out of office if they can't. In Liverpool's case, it is entirely possible that communities which have experienced reduced rubbish collections, constant potholes and had to buy their own salt in the extreme weather last winter might not think their chief executive is worth £195,000. On the other hand, they may just say, ‘Sod you lot in London – we do it our way here', and be quite happy to get another one over on Manchester.

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WHITEHALL

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