Public Sector Pay Ratios

That the Parliament welcomes Will Hutton’s recommendation that top pay in public sector bodies should not exceed a certain multiple of the lowest pay in those bodies; believes that the ratio of 20:1 could be regarded as a starting point and should be made mandatory for all bodies receiving public money immediately and then progressively reduced; agrees with Mr Hutton’s reported remarks that a maximum pay ratio would demonstrate fairness by reassuring public opinion, address a problem of collective action across remuneration committees and benefit organisations' productivity; believes that there is little evidence that extremely high pay is justified by performance, and encourages the private sector to similarly curtail the pay of top earners in light of evidence of the damaging nature of economic inequality on society presented by, amongst others, the Equality Trust and the National Centre for Research Methods at the University of Southampton.