[1]Show me the money: government transparency agenda
Senior managers at the Legal Services Board (LSB) earn between £80,000 and £120,000, it has emerged in data released under the government’s transparency agenda.
The LSB is funded by a levy on the eight legal professions it oversees, and the top-paid senior managers under chief executive Chris Kenny are general counsel Bruce Macmillian, paid between £115,000 and £120,000, and strategy director, Crispin Passmore (£110,000 and £115,000).
Chief executive Chris Kenny earns £160,000-£165,000, a figure revealed last year [2] when the government published details of those working at quangos who earn more than £150,000.
The figures, accurate as at 30 June 2010, show that Fran Gillon, director of regulatory practice, is on £95,000 to £100,000, corporate director Julie Myers £90,000 to £95,000, and Edwin Josephs, director of finance and services, £80,000 to £85,000.
The LSB has around 30 permanent staff members, the lowest paid of whom is on £23,300, and in the 2009-10 financial year it spent a little over £2 million on salaries.
By contrast, the Law Society’s 2009 annual report shows that the society’s 10 senior managers received total pay, including benefits and pension contributions, of £1.5m, with chief executive Des Hudson earning £334,895. At the Solicitors Regulation Authority chief executive Antony Townsend received £224,051, and Legal Complaints Service chief executive Deborah Evans was on £196,620.
The Bar Council’s annual report indicates that the most senior member of staff earned £120,000-£130,000 in 2009, one other between £100,000 and £110,000 and three more £80,000 to £90,000, with a further £51,400 in pension contributions for them all.
The government data also revealed senior staff pay at the Legal Services Commission, which employs more than 1,500 people at an annual cost of more than £54 million including pensions. The executive director of commissioning, Hugh Barrett, last year earned between £140,000 and £145,000, the executive director of corporate services, Hazel Parker-Brown, between £130,000 and £135,000 and the director of case management, Helen Riley, between £115,000 and £120,000.
At the bottom end of the LSC hierarchy, the lowest paid full-time staff member on a “level 7” grade is entitled to pay of between £11,467 and £17,274. At the top end, the LSC’s chief executive, Carolyn Downs, who is on secondment from the Ministry of Justice, earns between £165,000 and £170,000. She was recognised in the recent New Year’s Honour’s list.