Vote 2010: Freeze pay for all public sector workers, urges chief constable

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Sir Norman Bettison, who receives a 163,000-a-year salary as head of the region's largest police force, believes that pay levels for high-ranking public servants have spiralled out of control and left the country's finances in an "untenable situation".

Writing in today's Yorkshire Post, he suggests that the problem can only be solved by taking drastic measures, such as freezing the pay and pension entitlements of Britain's 6.1 million public sector workers.

"Delaying action, or trimming staff numbers, just won't sort it," he writes. "We need a more fundamental wage bill correction."

Cutting costs in public services is a key issue in the General Election campaign as the main political parties clash on how to reduce the deficit.

Successive governments have claimed that councils, health trusts and other public bodies must offer salaries on a par with the private sector to attract the best bosses.

But that view is dismissed as "nonsense" by Sir Norman, who leads a workforce of more than 10,000 as chief constable of West Yorkshire Police.

He says: "The best leaders are those who can secure long-term public value and a vision for their staff. Not some mercenary performance manager peddling a short-term fix."

He adds: "All that has been created are short-term engagements of senior leaders who feel pressured to deliver the latest central diktat, and who get a remuneration package never dreamed of for their few years in post."

The chief constable suggests that the pay freeze should be introduced in stages, affecting top-paid staff at first and coming down through the ranks in subsequent years.

His comments come as new figures show NHS chief executives received a 6.9 per cent average pay increase in 2008-09, more than double that for nurses.

The report, from Incomes Data Services (IDS), showed the pay increase for chief executives came on top of a 6.4 per cent rise in 2007-08, taking the typical annual salary for senior NHS managers to 147,500.

The chairman of West Yorkshire Police Federation, Michael Downes, representing rank-and-file officers, praised Sir Norman for his candour, and said he wished all political parties would adopt the same honesty.

He said: "I would have more respect for politicians being honest rather than waiting till they have got their foot through the door and then announcing what most people suspect is inevitable anyway.

"I wish they would all adopt the same honesty ahead of the election so we all know where we stand."

Sir Norman's comments have also been welcomed by Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, which campaigns for lower taxes.

"It's great that Sir Norman has been brave enough to point out what should be obvious to all senior public sector bosses," Mr Elliott said.

"The public sector pay bill has become totally unsustainable and must be reduced.

"We would go further and press for pay cuts, particularly for those at the top, but a freeze is a good start."

Pay has been a thorny issue within the police service for years, most recently in 2008 when the then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith faced fierce protests from officers.

More than 22,000 off-duty officers marched through Westminster after Ms Smith decided to limit the police pay award to 1.9 per cent, when an independent tribunal had recommended a 2.5 per cent rise.

Last month the Confederation of British Industry called for the overall police pay bill to be frozen to protect front-line services.