David Cameron has launched a fresh assault on public sector pay - saying he was ‘surprised’ at the number of senior staff who earn more than him.
He said he did not think it was fair that chief executives in local councils and the NHS should have a higher salary than the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.
State salaries had been allowed to drift ‘up and up and up’ over recent years without any thought to whether such high rates were necessary to attract the best candidates.
The Prime Minister earns £142,500 and it is believed that more than 300 staff employed by local councils take home more than him.
Thousands more in the public sector, from NHS managers to doctors and BBC staff, also earn more.
Mr Cameron also attacked ‘golden handshakes’ and generous early retirement deals which are often offered to departing highly-paid staff in the public sector.
He made the comments at one a PM Direct question and answer sessions in Carlisle on Friday.
When asked whether he thought it was fair that Jill Stannard, chief executive of Cumbria County Council, was on a salary of £170,000 - almost £30,000 more than him, he said: ‘The short answer is no, not really.
‘It’s quite surprising sometimes just how many people in the public sector are paid more than the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the exchequer.
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‘A lot of public sector salaries drifted up and up and up and there wasn’t enough thinking about what we really need to pay to get someone who is good.’
Ms Stannard, 55, is taking early retirement to make way for a money-saving management shake-up at Cumbria Council. In the past three years the council’s budget has been reduced by £88m and it must save a further £50m by 2016.
Attack: David Cameron, pictured with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, has said that high NHS salaries do not necessarily attract the best staff
A series of top jobs could go, and a new interim chief executive will be on a much lower salary than Ms Stannard.
Mr Cameron went on to attack golden handshakes - and called on councils to be more transparent about how they bring in such deals.
He said: ‘There also wasn’t enough thought about what payment they get when they have to go and what sort of pay-out they get.
‘We’re changing this. We’re saying you have to publish all this information. Everyone should be able to see what council staff earn, what the contracts are, and there should be a vote on this properly.
‘I come from Oxfordshire, and in my constituency, West Oxfordshire, we share a chief executive with the neighbouring council.
Making savings: Cameron said there was not 'enough thought' about how much public sector workers are paid
‘There’s a lot more you can do. You can get police services, fire services to share some of the back office staff to share some of the payroll.
‘To think a bit more like a business and think what can I do to drive down costs whole still delivering a good product. We need government to think like that.’
It also emerged yesterday that councils have signed thousands of gagging orders which prevent individuals from blowing the whistle on poor practice and wrongdoing.
They have signed agreements relating to pay-outs of more than £115million in the past three years, the vast majority of which contain gagging orders.
More than 12,000 so-called compromise agreements were signed by 199 councils in Britain between 2009 and 2012.