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After a lull in hostilities, the artillery barrage of ministerial and media sniping against council senior salaries appears to have restarted. Mike Burton is editor of the MJ It may be temporary, a reflection more of the imminent party conference political knock-about season. Or it may herald another shift in strategy, perhaps linked to ministerial nervousness that council spending cuts will start to be felt in the autumn. For, as one senior chief executive told me last week: ‘As yet, our residents have hardly felt the impact of our budget cuts. That has yet to come.' Either way, there is no doubt that – as displayed at the LGA conference in June – ministers were sending out conciliatory signals to the sector, while in direct contrast in the past fortnight there has been a mini-run of knocking stories in the usual media plus housing minister Grant Shapps' bizarre pop at SOLACE. The association, as we know, gains much of its income from private sector sponsorship. Its trading arm has been downsized in the past few months, due to the drop in business. The trend in senior salaries is most defi nitely southwards. And anyway, the general public are supremely unaware of the organisation. So why should it merit such attention from a minister? The answer is straightforward. It is nothing to do with council salaries and everything to do with the external agenda. First, as I remarked earlier, the conference season is almost upon us, the commitment to spending cuts is under fire due to the weak economy, and ministers need to show that the public sector is over-indulged and ripe for cuts. Second, the Government's housing growth strategy – Mr Shapps' brief – is looking increasingly fragile. And third, ministers are concerned there will be a spate of negative coverage in the autumn as council cuts start to bite – hence the cue for more planted knocking stories about senior salaries.

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Sniping returns over salaries

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