Sir Nigel Crisp, then chief executive of the national health service, wrote to chairs of NHS organisations on 27 March 2003 asking them to strongly encourage all senior staff to give their consent for information about their remuneration to be included in the accounts. This letter made clear the Department's view that people paid from the public purse should expect to be completely open about how much they are paid. This message was reiterated in a further letter to chairs, on 19 June 2003, which asked them to monitor progress on the disclosure of this information.