It was good to see leaders defending six figure salaries in local government in the recent article in The MJ; but I was disappointed that it was still even an issue.
After the initial TaxPayers' Alliance loud lobby, I thought we'd moved on and were recognising the importance of having reflective and appropriate reward. I think local government fully understands the value and return on investment good leaders make. I think most authorities recognise that in real terms the chief executive salary has not risen in line with inflation or the wider market for years – many chief executive salaries are broadly at the same level as a decade ago and yet the job is in my view and the chief executives I talk to considerably tougher and complex than it was then.
But the article did remind me once again of the impact one person makes on an organisation. I've always been fascinated by how in large, complex organisations the chief executive and directors can make such an impact through their leadership on a workforce of hundreds indeed thousands. And it's when you start to think about the scale of what good leadership delivers that you realise the 1,092 people earning over £150,000 in local government are probably delivering a massive return on the investment.
In the private sector the measure of both the salary and the often-significant bonus paid to leaders would be directly related to business performance, profit, shareholder value and dividends. If we measured (I hope authorities do) their CEX impact using clear metrics – transformation savings, efficiencies, staff and resident satisfaction, balanced budget, generation of commercial revenue etc, then perhaps the TaxPayers' Alliance would pipe down, and we'd see a different headline! ‘Chief Executives in Local Government delivering x 10+ return on investment!'
Julie Towers, director at Penna
julie.towers@penna.com
