Public Sector Pay And The Chief Executive Of The Audit Commission

EDM number 1871 in 2008-09, proposed by Dai Davies on 14/07/2009.
Categorised under the topic of Pay.

That this House notes with concern the ill-informed call by Mr Steve Bundred, the unelected chief executive of the Audit Commission, for a public-sector pay freeze; agrees with the sentiments expressed by Mike Jackson, lead negotiator on NHS pay, terms and conditions for Unison, in his Guardian letter of 7 July 2009, that this call is an unacceptable interference, is ill-informed and crass; further notes that under Mr Bundred's watch the Audit Commission admitted in a statement on 16 October 2008 that it had deposited £5,000,000 of its cash balances in Landsbanki Islands in April 2008 and £5,000,000 in Heritable Bank, Landsbanki's UK subsidiary, in July 2008, banks which subsequently failed; finds it incredible that the Audit Commission could assert that investigations indicate that deposits were made in full compliance with the Commission's guidelines on prudent investment; recalls that Mr Bundred's current salary is £246,000, up by 26 per cent., considerably more than inflation, from the £195,000 he was paid when appointed in 2003, and contrasts this with the median salary of registered nurses at £23,345, less than one-tenth of the Audit Commission chair; and believes that if Mr Bundred wants to demonstrate leadership, he should announce the size of the cut he is planning to take in his own salary, based on his deplorable failure to manage his own Office's finances prudently on behalf of the taxpayer, as shown by reckless investment in Icelandic banks without due diligence as to their future security.

This motion has been signed by a total of 27 MPs.