§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what salary is paid to each primary care trust chief executive in England; and what the average salary for chief executives of primary care groups in England was in the year to 31 October 2002. [95210]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 4 February 2003]: Information on the salaries of individual primary care trust and primary care group chief executives is not available centrally. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 24 October 2002, Official Report, column 509W.
Primary care trusts are required to disclose in their published accounts details of the remuneration of senior managers, including the chief executive. Individuals may decline to give their consent to have this information published, relying on the Data Protection
882WAct 1998. In this case, their decision to withhold the information should be disclosed in the published accounts.
Salaries of primary care trust chief executives range from £78,625 to £107,500. However, in exceptional cases, the figures paid may be lower or higher. A copy of the framework used to determine the salaries for primary care trust chief executives in 2002–03 has been placed in the Library.
Remuneration for primary care group chief executives was decided in line with Health Service Circular (HSC) 1998/017 by the PCG Board, and overseen by the health authority Remuneration Committee, who considered the weight of the post against other health authority senior managers when setting the level of remuneration. There was local flexibility to remunerate at a higher (or lower) band where appropriate. Salaries of primary care group chief executives ranged from £26,000 to £50,000. A copy of HSC 1998/017 has been placed in the Library.