Today, the Telegraph reported on an issue that the TPA has covered frequently, government fat cats that make entirely too much money. Figures show that high level executives for the various NHS Trusts saw spending on their collective salaries go up about 38% in the past year. Some individuals saw pay increases of a “meagre” 7% while others saw 17-20% increases. Those pay increases came after NHS execs backed a 2% rise for nurses’ pay, despite the fact that the NHS pay review board suggested a 2.5% hike.
Let’s put this into real numbers, shall we? High level execs saw their salaries and benefits packages increase as much as £20,000, the entire starting salary of a registered nurse BEFORE taxes. The same nurses running around the hospitals while NHS executives are sitting in plush offices using their extensive benefits packages to shove more money into their retirement funds than the nurses will see in a lifetime. Hardly seems fair does it? It isn’t. So with an ever-growing government and an increasing list of careless mistakes and failures, just think of how many more people per year are earning taxpayer-funded bonuses the size of your annual salary.
Pretty soon, and for the third year in a row, the TaxPayers’ Alliance will release a paper showing the total remuneration of the lucky few who work in high profile public sector jobs. As in years past, we will show that average increases in salary, bonuses, benefits and pension contributions awarded in public sector jobs far exceed those of their private sector counterparts. We will highlight items such as the plumpest payouts and bonuses for blunders. Finally, we will show that while the private sector will tighten their belts in the recession, public sector officials can carelessly over-regulate and relax as their pay checks will get them through just fine. Stay tuned for the release of this year’s “Public Sector Rich List,” and to see previous versions, see our publications page.