Are Dorset's top public sector earners worth it? (From Bournemouth Echo)

Are Dorset's top public sector earners worth it?

7:00pm Tuesday 8th December 2009 in

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BECAUSE they’re worth it!

Cheryl Cole, Eva Longoria-Parker, Scarlett Johansson and Andie MacDowell have little trouble convincing L’Oreal they’re worth their whopping salaries to promote their beauty products.

But can their famous slogan be applied to public sector workers earning more than £150,000 a year?

Prime Minster Gordon Brown has warned that public sector organisations paying more than that will have to justify the salaries to ministers and to the public.

And two of those who could be affected are Dorset County Council Chief Executive David Jenkins and Tony Spotswood, the Chief Executive of the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Trust.

But what exactly do they do and are they, as L’Oreal puts it, worth it?

Mr Jenkins, who also acts as Clerk to the Dorset Lieutenancy and Secretary to the Dorset Strategic Partnership, has been in the job for more than 10 years.

He is responsible for 13,000 staff and works closely with elected councillors to deliver leadership, strategic direction, policy advice, partnerships and operational management.

His salary band starts at £145,235 and ends at £164,306 and an outline of his job description and key responsibilities is available to the public.

He is paid to be lead manager of the authority and lead advisor to the county council and is also responsible for providing services for the best possible value.

Mr Jenkins must lead regular reviews to secure efficiency and effectiveness, must promote good communication internally and with the public and must use up-to-date management practices.

Dorset County Council leader Cllr Angus Campbell has also warned that paying any less could lead to the appointment of second-rate people.

“If you don’t pay the rate, you don’t get people to do the job and this idea of naming and shaming is ridiculous” he said.

Tony Spotswood has overall responsibility for the healthcare needs of 550,000 people in Bournemouth, Christchurch, East Dorset and parts of the New Forest. The trust deals with 300,000 patient visits each year.

It has been a foundation trust since April 2005, meaning more vital decisions can be taken locally, and provides a comprehensive range of in and out patient services. Mr Spotswood earns between £166,000 and £170,000 per year, a salary set independently by the trust’s non-executive directors.

A spokesman for the trust said Mr Spotswood’s salary is in line with other trusts with an income of between £200 million and £300 million a year.

We asked shoppers in Bournemouth whether they think public sector bosses are worth their salaries.

Sue Elliott, from Winton, said: “They have a lot of responsibility, especially in the health service. I wouldn’t want to be in charge because there are too many things that can go wrong – they also have to have a lot of training.”

But William Lambert from Christchurch said he believes the salaries are too high and added: “I think it is wrong that people get so much for working for the council.

“They are always cutting services and saying they can’t afford important things for schools but it would help if they took a pay cut.”

l In yesterday’s Daily Echo we said Tony Spotswood had received a 14 per cent pay increase this year.

In fact it was in the financial year 2007-08 that his pay increased from a band of £141,000-£145,000 to £161,000-£165,000, an increase of around 14 per cent. In 2008-09, the increase was around three per cent, to between £166,000 and £170,000.

A trust spokesperson said: “The chief executive has received cost of living increases in line with the rest of the NHS for the past two years and your article is incorrect to say he had received a pay increase of 14 per cent this year, or previously in 2008.”