Former Cabinet Secretary Lord O’Donnell has said that the post of top civil servant is “massively underpaid”.
Following Simon Case’s decision to step down on health grounds, he is involved in the recruitment process for the £200,000-a-year role.
Lord O’Donnell, who held the post between 2005 and 2011, told the BBC that the “incredibly demanding job” deserves higher pay.
The Cabinet Secretary is the most senior civil servant in Britain.
This function includes advising the Prime Minister, leading the implementation of government policies, and managing other high-level civil servants.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour, Lord O’Donnell described the position as “a huge task”.
He said: “In my view this is very underpaid – as I have been paid a lot for very little work.”
Lord O’Donnell served as Cabinet Secretary under three Prime Ministers. He was promoted to the position under Tony Blair in 2005, and he remained in the role under Gordon Brown when he was premier between 2007 and 2010.
He left office in 2011 under the David Cameron-led coalition government.
Recruitment is underway to replace the current Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, who has said he will step down at the end of the year.
Announcing his resignation, Mr Case said he had been receiving medical treatment for a “neurological condition” for the past 18 months.
He stressed that his resignation was “only health related and has nothing to do with anything else.”
Lord O’Donnell said whoever replaced Mr Case would have to be on “good terms” with Sue Grey, the prime minister’s chief of staff.
“Sue knows the civil service intimately,” he said. “I would say this has to be one of the easiest parts of the job.”
Ms Grey, previously a senior civil servant herself, was at the center of a controversy over her own pay in September, when the BBC revealed she was paid £170,000 a year.
This is more than the Prime Minister, who earns £166,786.
