MPs slam comparisons with PM’s pay

Capping public sector wages at the same level as the Prime Minister’s salary is “damaging” and could deter the “best talent”, a powerful Commons committee has warned.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Oct 2011, 07:00 BST

MPs yesterday claimed it was “crude” to peg maximum pay at £142,500 as the benefits associated with the top job in Government mean the “effective pay is actually much higher”.

In a report on public appointments, they also called on the Government to end its dependency on costly head-hunting firms and develop its own recruitment expertise.

Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee, said: “We support pay restraint and using the Prime Minister’s salary as a cap is useful to get the message across, but it is damaging to use this as an arbitrary cap.

“Taking into account associated benefits the Prime Minister receives, his effective pay is actually much higher, so benchmarking against his salary is not meaningful.

“We say that this is too crude an instrument to be useful.”