Remember localism? It means local councils decide officers' pay not the Chancellor!

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I’m probably in a minority but I think the posing and posturing from all three parties over the pay of senior public servants misses the point by quite a few miles. Now don’t get me wrong, I think that we need to be careful stewards of public funds (now that would be an original thought) but paying someone running a £1 billion plus organisation like a large local authority £150,000 or so doesn’t seem all that unreasonable. I’d like to make them a bit more accountable but that’s got nothing to do with pay.

And more to the point - if we believe in localism then what a local council pays its chief executive, director of development or chief street sweeper is nothing at all to do with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister or indeed any of the dysfunctional shower down in Westminster. It's for elected local councillors to decide. Understand Dave?

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