Public sector specialist Gatenby Sanderson has defended recruiters, which have been criticised in the press recently for playing a part in artificially elevating the salaries of local authority and NHS chief executives.

Following a report in The Sunday Times which criticised town hall boss headhunter Solace Enterprises for recommending salary increases for chief executives, Martin Tucker, lead partner at Gatenby Sanderson, told Recruiter public sector pay was far more complex than the private sector. 

Speaking about public sector pay in general, he says: “From our experience, money is not the key motivating factor for managers moving into the public sector. I think they are motivated more by becoming good public servants.”

Tucker said you could not compare thw pay of a chief executive in charge of a £1bn turnover local authority with a headcount of 20,000 and the equivalent in the private sector.

“To a certain extent you are driven by market forces, but managing a large local authority is a considerable job. You are in charge of the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society - there is a lot of pressure.”

He said it was much harder to measure the worth and success of a leader in the public sector.

“Private company bosses have to show a return to shareholders and demonstrate profit growth. Success in the public sector is more difficult to define. The health service and local authorities are large, complex and challenging organisations.

Tucker said public sector leaders should be remunerated properly.

“We are all shareholders of public services. But I wouldn’t want to see poorly performing local authorities or NHS trusts because people are in the wrong job. It is a false economy and a false investment. Public sector chief executives should be paid fairly and appropriately to attract and retain staff.”  

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