Francis Maude vows to end lucrative pay deals for senior public servants

Government publishes list of 291 people paid more than £150,000, with some on extra allowances up to £60,000 Generous side deals that allowed two senior NHS executives to add up to £100,000 to their salaries have been condemned by the government as “relics of the past”. Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said that such deals would be banned in the future as the government reins in public sector salaries under George Osborne’s plan to eliminate Britain’s structural deficit by 2015. Maude spoke out after the Cabinet Office published the details of the salaries of all public servants, including those working in quangos, earning £150,000 or more. The figures show that Sir David Nicholson, the chief executive of the NHS whose basic salary is between £275,000 and £279,999, was given a “gross benefit in kind” of between £55,000 to £59,999 to help pay for a rented flat in London and what were described as associated expenses. The Department of Health, which said Nicholson’s “main residence” was in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, when the benefit was first disclosed, said he stopped receiving the extra payment in May 2011. David Flory, deputy chief executive of the NHS and whose basic salary is between £245,000 and £249,999, received an extra £35,000 to £39,999 for accommodation and travel expenses for living away from home. Maude said: “These kind of deals are relics of the past. It is absurd to expect that people can be paid the same amount in the public sector as they are paid in the private sector. People come in [from the private sector] to do jobs at senior levels in the public sector because they have an opportunity to make a big difference in the public sector, where they can work on a huge canvas. “These [deals] are a feature of the past and not the future. They were made when money was thought to grow on trees.” The list, published on Tuesday, shows that 291 people earn £150,000 or above in the current financial year. This is down on 345 in 2010, creating a saving of 16%. The figures were published after Maude announced earlier this week that he had made £3.75bn savings by cutting back on what he described as inefficiencies and unjustifiable costs in central government. The figures show that Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary, is paid between £235,000 and £239,999. But he is paid less than Joe Harley, the director general of IT at the Department of Work and Pensions, who is paid £240,000 to £244,999. There are 10 members of the Olympic Delivery Authority on the list who are paid up to £2.1m between them. Dennis Hone, the ODA’s chief executive, is paid the highest salary – between £310,000 and £314,999. Howard Shiplee, the director of construction at the ODA, is paid between £285,000 and £289,999. John Armitt, the ODA chairman is paid between £250,000 to £254,999 for working three and a half days a week. But Armitt receives no pension. Sir Roy McNulty, the ODA’s deputy chairman, earns between £40,000 and £44,999 for an average of three to four days a month. But he also had no pension from the ODA. The salaries paid to the members of the ODA dwarf the salaries of Britain’s military top brass. Sir David Richards, the chief of the defence staff, is paid between £235,000 and £239,999. The chiefs of the three services are paid slightly different salaries: • Sir Mark Stanhope, chief of the naval staff, is paid between £185,000 and £189,999. • Sir Stephen Dalton, the chief of the air staff, is paid between £175,000 and £179,999. • Sir Peter Wall, chief of the general staff, is paid between £170,000 and £174,999. Public sector pay Public sector pensions Public services policy Francis Maude Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk

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