Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb has hit out at claims by the trade union Unite that an “excessive City pay culture” exists in the charity sector.

Unite had said that it was concerned that some charity chief executives are earning more than the Prime Minister’s annual salary of £197,000, citing John Belcher, who stepped down from his £391,000 a year role at the Anchor Trust last week.

Writing in his blog, Bubb said: “The union says that an ‘excessive’ city pay culture is creeping into charities. Pardon? Which CEO exactly is receiving a bonus? (Answer none) - let alone a bonus the size of an average charity CEO salary.

“What underlies this attack is an unpleasant and patronising attitude to the third sector which assumes that we are all small scale and amateur and therefore not capable of earning a proper professional salary - unlike workers in the public sector.”

He added that Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson, the joint general secretaries of Unite, earn £122,108 and £186,626 respectively, adding: “On the index that Unite have devised for the Guardian story, Unite are paying their CEOs 26 times the salary of a member on the minimum wage!”

High earners singled out

Unite had also singled out top salaries at the Riverside Housing Group (£231,000), the UK Film Council (£205,000-£210,000), the National Trust (£160,000-£169,999), Age Concern (£100,001-120,000) and RSPB (£100,001-£110,000).

The union compared these to the £5.80 minimum wage earned by many charity employees, though it did emphasise that it was only concerned about excessive pay, rather than the majority of charity chief executives who on average earn £57,000 a year.

“It is quite clear that the insidious City culture of excessive pay is seeping into the packages of some not-for-profit sector chief executives,” said Unite’s national officer for the not-for-profit sector Rachael Maskell.

“This is to be deplored as it corrupts the ethos of the voluntary sector and is an insult to those, often on average incomes, who donate to charity. I think the general public will be shocked by the scale of the packages that some executives are being awarded. This sector is losing its sense of what real value is.

“It is not right that a charity boss earns much more than the Prime Minister. Flat pay increases of a set amount should be introduced, instead of percentage rises, as these would reduce pay disparities, which are hitting, in particular, women, disabled people, ethnic minorities and part-time workers.”

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Trade union blasts charity chief executives' salary "greed"

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Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
Who's Who: Stephen Bubb