The Department does not collect details on the pay of individuals in primary care trusts (PCTs), and we therefore cannot provide the average salary of their chief executives. National health service organisations are public bodies and as such, the pay of their senior executive teams is a matter of public record, published in their annual accounts.
Following the reconfigurations proposed by “Commissioning a patient-led NHS” in July 2006 the Department published a new “Pay Framework for very senior managers in strategic and special health authorities, primary care trusts and ambulance trusts”, a copy is available on the Department’s website at
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4137432
PCT chief executives are paid a spot rate salary which is determined (within a range) by the size of the population the PCT serves. The document was updated in July 2007 and is available in the Library and on the Department’s website at
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_076986
The current spot rate salaries are shown in the following table. The framework also provides for the payment of recruitment and retention premiums (of up to 30 per cent. of the spot rate salary) and payments for additional duties (up to 10 per cent. of the spot rate salary) where appropriate.
Weighted population Salary from 1 April 2007 (£) Band one Up to 150,000 101,504 Band two 150-300,000 112,211 Band three 300-500,000 122,897 Band four 500,000-1 million 133,584 Band five Over 1 million 144,271
In 2001, PCTs were still being established and there were no nationally set rates for the pay of their chief executives.
For information, the arrangements for the pay of their chief executives were formalised from 2002 with the publication of “Shifting the balance of power: a framework for benchmarking PCT Chief Executive salaries”. A copy is available on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4083023
£ Population served Minimum Midpoint Maximum Up to 150,000 78,625 85,000 91,375 150-300,000 87,875 95,000 102,125 300-500,000 92,500 100,000 107,500
The Department issued guidance on pay ranges and each year notified the NHS of the maximum increase in the pay envelope for senior executive staff. Pay increases awarded to individuals may have varied as long as organisations limited the total pay envelope for this staff group to the maximum set by the Department. For the period 2002 to 2005, these were as follows:
Percentage 2003-04 3.225 2004-05 3.225 2005-06 3.225
By applying these annual uplift levels to the salary ranges published in 2002, an estimate of typical salary levels can be made:
£ Population served Minimum Midpoint Maximum Up to 150,000 86,480 93,492 100,504 150-300,000 96,654 104,491 112,328 300-500,000 101,741 109,990 118,240
Prior to 2006, PCT chief executives were on local contracts. Although in some cases individuals may have been awarded performance-related awards, there were no national arrangements for the payment of bonuses to PCT chief executives.
Performance awards were introduced for all PCT chief executives as part of the “very senior managers’ pay framework” published in July 2006.