Kerslake takes £50k pay cut to join CLG
Sir Bob Kerslake will take a pay cut of more than £50,000 when he takes up his position as permanent secretary at the Communities and Local Government department.
The chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency will start his new post on 1 November.
His basic salary at the CLG will be £170,000, a drop from his basic wage of £223,000 at the HCA. Both salaries come with a package of benefits.
The CLG wage had to be signed off by the Treasury and is a decrease from the £185,000 a year paid to previous CLG permanent secretary Peter Housden.
A CLG special adviser explained this wage was ‘in line’ with such posts in other departments, such as Simon Fraser, who started as permanent under secretary of the foreign office last month on between £175,000 and £179,000.
Communities secretary Eric Pickles stalled the appointment of the Audit Commission chief executive this summer over a £240,000 pay packet.
He said the pay and pension package was ‘against the spirit’ of controlling the salaries of senior public sector posts.
Mr Pickles said of Sir Bob’s appointment: ‘He has an impressive track record in local government and I know he will make an invaluable contribution to the department at a crucial time. I look forward working with him closely in the coming months.’
Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell said: ‘[Sir Bob] will bring a wealth of experience and credibility to the role, driving forward the new government’s agenda for devolution of power and autonomy to local councils and neighbourhoods.’
Mr Housden left his post in June this year to become the permanent secretary to the Scottish Government.
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Readers' comments (4)
Paine | 07/09/2010 10:34 am
I'll see your Sir Humphrey and raise you a Sir Bob. You might say that... but I couldn't possible comment.
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Melvin Bone | 07/09/2010 10:55 am
Emily, can we square this circle with detail of Mr Housdens pay as permanent secretary to the Scottish Government?
Thanks!
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Anonymous | 07/09/2010 12:51 pm
Is Sir Bob's pay cut and move an early indication of the coalition's two tier approach to housing, one for London and one for the rest? With Tory boy Boris getting support at the expense of the rest of the country? Jules Birch in today's article, "Bob a Job", asks what future for the HCA when it's losing its, "biggest regional operation to Boris Johnson" Perhaps I'm seeing something that's not there?
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Melvin Bone | 07/09/2010 1:01 pm
I found out myself! To round off the pay details, Mr Housden is due to be paid £160,000-£164,999 p.a. so has taken a £5000 pay cut.
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