He gets £180,000 a year as a salary, £18,000 room allowance for staying in the luxury Westminster Hotel, £5,000 a year for train fares, taxis and car mileage and £4,070 ‘travel allowance’ for walking the 164 yards from the hotel to his office.
This is not a banker or one of the so-called ‘Fat Cats’ of the City, it is the chief executive of the Audit Commission whose motto is ‘protecting the public purse’.
Last year, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles vetoed a request by the Audit Commission to offer a salary of £240,000 to attract ‘top candidates’ for the vacant chief executive’s position, saying he wanted to send a message by blocking such a massive salary.
Eugene Sullivan was promoted internally and, according to the Audit Commission, gets a ‘basic’ salary of £165,004.
Add on an £18,000 ‘additional responsibility allowance’, £43,704 in pension contributions, £18,000 room allowance, £5,000 for fares and £4,070 walking allowance and his total pay package comes to over £250,000 per year.
Just whose purse is being protected?