By Lucy Phillips
1 April 2010
The Audit Commission’s new chief executive has defended the £225,000 salary of his predecessor, despite mounting political pressure to restrain excessive pay in the public sector.
Eugene Sullivan, who steps into Steve Bundred’s role on an interim basis from today, told Public Finance that such a pay packet was ‘absolutely justified’. In his first interview in the post, he said: ‘I think they [salaries of heads of public bodies] should be justified and benchmarked and I think they should be realistic, but I don’t think they should be capped.’
Sullivan, who had been the commission’s managing director of corporate services, is being given an ‘extra responsibility allowance’ of 10% of his £180,000-a-year salary during his tenure in the top spot.
The recruitment process for a permanent head of the local government spending watchdog is currently under way. It follows Bundred’s decision to stand down after six and a half years and take up the role as chair of the NHS foundation trust regulator Monitor.
Interviews are likely to take place after the general election in May and an appointment made the following month – although the speed of the process is dependent on how long it takes the communities and local government secretary to approve the board’s selection. Sullivan said he expected to be in the top job until the autumn.
Audit Commission chair Michael O’Higgins told PF they had received a good response to the advert, placed in the Sunday Times on February 14, even though the salary was not specified. ‘We had a very good field and there are a significant number of credible candidates,’ he said.
But O’Higgins refused to divulge any further details about the package that would be offered to the final candidate. A salary of £225,000 was ‘neither ruled out or in’, he added.
Sullivan is not a contender for the permanent post and will go back to his original role when a successor in appointed. The full interview with him will be published in the April 9-15 issue of PF.
1 April 2010
The Audit Commission’s new chief executive has defended the £225,000 salary of his predecessor, despite mounting political pressure to restrain excessive pay in the public sector.
Eugene Sullivan, who steps into Steve Bundred’s role on an interim basis from today, told Public Finance that such a pay packet was ‘absolutely justified’. In his first interview in the post, he said: ‘I think they [salaries of heads of public bodies] should be justified and benchmarked and I think they should be realistic, but I don’t think they should be capped.’
Sullivan, who had been the commission’s managing director of corporate services, is being given an ‘extra responsibility allowance’ of 10% of his £180,000-a-year salary during his tenure in the top spot.
The recruitment process for a permanent head of the local government spending watchdog is currently under way. It follows Bundred’s decision to stand down after six and a half years and take up the role as chair of the NHS foundation trust regulator Monitor.
Interviews are likely to take place after the general election in May and an appointment made the following month – although the speed of the process is dependent on how long it takes the communities and local government secretary to approve the board’s selection. Sullivan said he expected to be in the top job until the autumn.
Audit Commission chair Michael O’Higgins told PF they had received a good response to the advert, placed in the Sunday Times on February 14, even though the salary was not specified. ‘We had a very good field and there are a significant number of credible candidates,’ he said.
But O’Higgins refused to divulge any further details about the package that would be offered to the final candidate. A salary of £225,000 was ‘neither ruled out or in’, he added.
Sullivan is not a contender for the permanent post and will go back to his original role when a successor in appointed. The full interview with him will be published in the April 9-15 issue of PF.
