Road to ruin

IT used to be that Britain's public sector workers looked at the salaries of their peers in the private sector and railed at the inequality. Thirteen years of Labour changed all that, but the pendulum swung too far in the other direction, with the pay and perks of many of the state's top executives rising beyond reason.

The system of handing out cars, and allowances for them, to NHS bureaucrats in Yorkshire is symptomatic of this largesse. It is also absurd that some senior managers are given vehicles, or cash towards them, when they do not appear to travel for work purposes.

There are only a few instances when hospital and health trust managers need to be provided with a car, and none at all when a luxury vehicle is justifiable.

While, of course, pay packages in the public sector need to be at a level that does not discourage potential recruits from the private sector, NHS trusts and others still need to remember that they are spending taxpayers' money.

There is something seriously wrong with the way the NHS is run when the financial packages offered to executives – as much as their skills are needed – outstrip corresponding jobs in private business.

The coalition has pledged to crack down on the worst examples of public sector excess in an attempt to minimise the cuts faced by core workers. The situation it faces in Yorkshire is a key early test of whether it can live up to its tough words.

In the meantime, health trust chiefs should remember to act in a way that reflects their status. They are the public's servants, and not

their masters.