Ex-cabinet secretary says £200,000 job is underpaid

Former furniture caput Lord O'Donnell has said the presumption of apical civilian servant is "massively underpaid".

He is progressive successful the recruitment process for the £200,000-a-year role, pursuing Simon Case's determination to measurement down connected wellness grounds.

Lord O'Donnell, who held the station betwixt 2005 and 2011, told the BBC the "incredibly demanding job" should person a higher salary.

The furniture caput is the UK's astir elder civilian servant.

The occupation involves advising the premier minister, starring implementation of the government's policies and managing different high-level civilian servants.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The Westminster Hour, Lord O'Donnell described the presumption arsenic a "huge job".

He said: "It's massively underpaid successful my presumption - fixed I've been paid a batch much since, to bash a batch less."

Lord O'Donnell served arsenic furniture caput nether 3 premier ministers. He was promoted to the station nether Tony Blair successful 2005, and helium remained successful the relation for Gordon Brown's premiership betwixt 2007 and 2010.

He stepped down successful 2011, nether the David Cameron-led conjugation government.

Recruitment is nether mode to regenerate the existent furniture secretary, Simon Case, who has said helium volition measurement down by the extremity of the year.

Announcing his resignation, Mr Case said helium had been undergoing aesculapian attraction for a "neurological condition" for the past 18 months.

He stressed that his resignation was "solely to bash with wellness and thing to bash with thing else".

Lord O'Donnell said whoever replaces Mr Case volition request to person a "good relationship" with the premier minister's main of staff, Sue Gray.

"Sue knows the civilian work backwards," helium said. "That should beryllium 1 of the easiest parts of the job, I would say.”

Ms Gray, antecedently a elder civilian servant herself, was astatine the centre of a enactment implicit her ain wage successful September, aft the BBC revealed she is paid £170,000 a year.

This is much than the premier minister, who earns £166,786.