Housing and health bosses enjoy pay surge

Last year, chief executives in the NHS and housing associations saw their pay rises outstrip those of their employees.

A survey in Social Housing magazine last month found housing association bosses enjoying an average rise of 7.9% while staff pay increased by 6.4%.

These rises took average salaries to £94,490 for the chief executives and to £19,700 for employees.

The pay gap in the NHS is wider according to pay and employment specialists, Incomes Data Services (IDS). They found increases for health trust bosses averaging over 7% compared to the 3.2% rise awarded to most NHS workers.

According to the official Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, pay in the health sector averaged £17,957 last year. The IDS figures for average pay for chief executives are: £107,500 (England), £116,000 (Wales), £95,000 (Scotland) and £87,000 (Northern Ireland).