I revealed this morning that despite David Cameron’s promises to cut down on civil service pay, the total Whitehall bonus pot went up last year from £136m to over £140m. Much more shocking than that, however, is the news that in the same financial year, directors of FTSE 100 companies have seen their pay rise by nearly 50 per cent. That follows a 50 per cent rise the year before.
David Cameron was asked about this issue at his press conference in Perth on Friday morning. What can we do to stop directors paying themselves so much money?
Although his answer included the usual messages on the importance of transparency and accountability, he also had a more intriguing suggestion:
We have to make sure there are more women executives on boards. Increasing the number of women in boardrooms – that will have a beneficial effect.
I can understand why having more women on boards is a good idea, but is there any evidence that it would result in less inflationary pay?
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey