Public sector salaries rise

PUBLIC sector executives were given pay rises of up to 9.5% last year, new figures showed today.

The increase in public sector wages took average earnings of bosses to £169,000, while the earnings of most chief executives in local government topped the £100,000-a-year mark, according to a survey conducted by Incomes Data Services (IDS).

The news comes on the back of research by financial services recruiter Morgan McKinley that found that salaries in the City have risen by 7.5% since February 2005. The number of vacancies in the City has also risen 18% in the past year, up from 11,009 to 12,978.

Top executives in Government agencies saw their average earnings increase to £112,500. Steve Tatton of IDS, said: 'The public sector often likes to follow the private sector's lead and now it seems that top executives in the public sector have taken this one step further by being given top company-style pay rises.'

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier was top of the public sector pay league with a salary and incentive package worth a potential £814,000, said the report. Female directors were a minority, according to the report. IDS said 15 top executives and six finance directors whose pay it studied were all men.

The pay of the top executive in agencies studied included £167,500 at Ordnance Survey, £162,500 in the Pension Service and Office for National Statistics, £147,500 at the Treasury Solicitor's Department and National Savings and £127,500 at the Central Office of Information, Prison Service, Land Registry and Royal Mint.

Meanwhile, yesterday's Morgan McKinley Employment Monitor found that senior employees' salaries were rising far more rapidly than their middle market and administration colleagues. Senior professionals enjoyed a 5.6% rise in basic salary offerings, compared with a 3.5% rise for middle market professionals and just 1.9% for support and administration staff.