Eyebrows will be raised sky-high today by the advertisement in the Sunday Times for a new chair for the UK Statistics Authority to succeed Sir Michael Scholar (pictured) who ends his term at the end of August.
 
The job is advertised at £57,000 for two days a week. Not bad going, some might say, but it is a fraction of what Sir Michael was paid when he took the job nearly three years ago. That was £150,000 for what was then deemed to be a three-day-a-week commitment. I understand the figure was cut to £100,000 after the Coalition Government took office.
 
Many – including perhaps Sir Michael himself – will see this as a slap in the face for statistics, possibly even a bit of Whitehall retaliation for making trouble. UKSA fears it may discourage the best applicants from applying.
 
But it is worth pointing out that statistics is not alone. The advertisement for Chair of the NHS Commissioning Board, a herculean task that involves creating a new organisation that will run large parts of the NHS and manage the £80 billion a year being spent by the GP commissioning consortia, was advertised in the Sunday Times on February 11 as a requiring “between two and three days a week”, located in London and Leeds, and worth £63,000 a year.
 
The Coalition evidently means what it says about cutting top salaries.