It seems like another era when communities secretary Eric Pickles lambasted council chief executives for earning ‘more than the prime minister.’

We haven’t heard that for a while for various reasons and not only because Mr Pickles is no longer in situ. Firstly, council chief executive salaries have declined in the past five years as higher-paid incumbents appointed in the years of plenty are replaced by those on lower packages. Secondly, their pay is dwarfed by the salaries of bosses running privatised utilities – basically still monopoly public services – which are often four or five times higher than those of council chiefs.