Salaries for chief executives and senior managers in the public sector are down. Who cares? Not the taxpayer. They think they are fat cats and the streets aren't clean anyway. Not the Government who feels nobody should earn more than the prime minister's £142,000. And, probably not the white van man, who thinks everyone is overpaid and underperforming.

But someone should care; after all you get what you pay for, and leadership whether lost or removed, is missed and noticed. Just look at any of the high performing authorities and their track record and match it to their leadership quality, stability and tenure. If you track the Times Top 100 companies you will notice those which have highest employee engagement – a key factor of good leadership –have the highest profit.