The new year started inauspiciously with an article in a Sunday newspaper on the first weekend of January attacking council chief executive salaries, somewhat ironically, as it happens, since the same publication carries a substantial number of advertisements for such posts. However, the point is not that this hoary old story has resurfaced, but that it might signal the start of a drip-drip campaign against the public sector, and local government, in particular, driven largely by resentment arising from the recession. SOLACE director, David Clark, for example, last week warned his members that similar stories were likely to follow, adding in his weekly briefing that ‘as Britain slides deeper into recession, I can see that public sector pensions, in particular, are going to be deemed a fair target by various elements of the media, as well as parliamentarians.' The issue is further complicated by the imminent 2010 general election, with local government caught up in the flak. Eric Pickles has already threatened to cut top salaries, even though some of the highest-paid executives are in Conservative councils and their leaders are fuming at the intervention of their national leaders. The classic unfolding scenario sees councils rubbished over top salaries and final salary pensions, followed by the Opposition then announcing it will save ‘millions' by ‘cutting back red tape and index-linked pensions', thereby pushing the Government to follow in kind. A wholesale virtual reality slaughter of public servants then ensues. It is understandable that private sector staff will look in envy at council pensions, even though the average payout is about £4,000, since the bulk of employees are on modest earnings. Chief executive salaries will continue to attract attention, but even those are driven by market forces, and the law of supply and demand. But local authority associations need to combat the misinformation around these areas and be proactive about publicising the work of councils in helping residents during the recession. For, overall, the public recognise that in housing, employment, welfare, and regeneration – the areas most affected by the recession – local government is the solution, not the problem. Michael Burton, Editor, The MJ
