I AM pleased to see that the national media this week picked up on the massive salaries paid to local government officials.

The wages enjoyed by council chief executives made big headlines, and were even the topic of discussion on a radio phone-in show.

It all came about as a result of research which showed almost half of these execs were paid more than the Prime Minister last year.

This revelation will be nothing new to Bucks Free Press readers because we’ve featured the issue before, but I’m glad some national pressure is finally being brought to bear in these days of supposed cash restraint. Precious services are closing everywhere because of lack of council cash, and yet these top bods continue earning colossal rewards.

Actually, I have nothing per se against high salaries. I have always believed you need to pay well to attract the best. I also believe the comparison with David Cameron’s wages is irrelevant. The PM has traditionally never earnt a fortune while in office – it’s just not that sort of a job.

No, I have two points to make about chief exec pay. Firstly, while they preside over large authorities, the decision-making is left to elected councillors. So, while their jobs are valuable, the onus appears more on keeping the troops in ship-shape order rather than taking the credit or blame for make or break strategies.

And secondly, there are a rather a lot of chief execs in Bucks, serving the multitude of councils. Not all of them earn more than Cameron, but they all do take home a wage that would probably keep a day centre open for a good while.

So rather than cut our services, how about we start by cutting back on the number of chief executives we employ?