West Berks Council CEO paid more than Prime Minister, Good for him! Options

[Sherlock]

It's easy to be critical but I think we should all congratulate Nick Carter, West Berks CEO, he's worth every penny! Well done to the Conservative majority for having the guts to reward the man properly in the face of huge cuts.

http://www.newburyandthatchamchronicle.co....-rakes-in-175k/

[Claude]

It's easy to be critical

I agree, it is easy to be critical, and in my opinion any crticism has to be constructive, otherwise it's just moaning, and that benefits nobody.

I think we should all congratulate Nick Carter, West Berks CEO, he's worth every penny!

Sherlock, you are entitled to your opinion, but I do not agree. Sure, Nick Carter may have put in an enormous amount of effort over the course of a year but I cannot say I agree with his financial reward and him being 'worth' it.

If West Berkshire Council were to impose a salary cap for the Chief Executive then I imagine potential candidates would simply apply for better paid jobs in other authorities, or even better paid jobs in the private sector. And that's what I think this boils down to - market rates.

If people don't think he should be paid so much, what can they do about it? I've accepted that market powers have derived salaries for these civil servants, and any reduction in salary may result in a candidate who is less capable, which would benefit nobody.

It's a tough job, someone has to do it, I for one don't fancy it but I respect NC for taking on the challenge and the salary is what it is. I don't think he's worth it, but the market has decided, and that's the way it works.

[Simon Kirby]

... but the market has decided, and that's the way it works.

Not so.

In general people would like to earn more than they do, and this greed pressure drives salaries up.

In a commercial organisation this inflationary pressure is balanced by the productivity of the company. If the company employs good staff it makes good profits and it can afford to employ even better staff, but if the company employs poor staff its profits fall and if it wants to arrest that decline it has to sack its poor managers and find better ones. All things being equal individuals tend to earn their talent's worth in their chosen market by the action of market forces.

In public service the greed pressure is just the same, but there is no balancing productivity. In public service the revenue isn't generated in proportion to the quality of the "product", the revenue is simply collected from the tax-payer, so public servants have a considerable degree of latitude to pay themselves more or less whatever they want, subject only to the oversight of elected politicians - who are advised by those same local government officers.

There is some degree of linkage between the roles in private and public service and this goes some way to setting market rate wages, but the roles are often not directly comparable, and less so the higher up the food chain you go.