The Archbishop of York has welcomed this week the report of the High Pay Commission’s independent inquiry into high pay and boardroom pay across the public and private sectors in the UK.
The Commission, established by Compass with the support of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, is calling for an end to corrosive pay deals.
The Archbishop said: “The findings of this inquiry match closely with my own views, expressed in the Yorkshire Post earlier this month. I believe that fundamental changes in public attitudes are needed, and these can take place quite quickly. Part of our task in creating a more caring and equal society is to change attitudes to excessively high incomes and the accumulation of private wealth without clear evidence of generously contributing to the common good. It is interesting to see in the report that four out of five people now think that pay and bonuses for top executives are out of control. It is a view I have long held, and I am glad to see that evidence now bears out my own opinion that executives’ compensation bears no correlation to a firm’s performance. I also welcome the suggestion that pay packages should be simplified and made more transparent.”
The Archbishop explained that there needs to be wider recognition of inequality as an ethical issue, and stressed the need to tackle tax avoidance by rich individuals and multinationals. He said: “I have already suggested that all people should tick a box on their tax forms and it is my hope that tax evasion will soon be a thing of the past”.
The Commission criticised the current structure of remuneration committees stating that there is a need ‘to break open the closed shop that sets pay for our top directors and get back to basics for executive pay, with more scrutiny from a cross-section of society’.
To read the High Pay Commission’s inquiry ‘Cheques With Balances: why tackling high pay is in the national interest’ visit: http://highpaycommission.co.uk/
To read the Archbishop’s previous article in the Yorkshire Post and Independent on Sunday visit: http://www.archbishopofyork.org/articles.php/2238/archbishops-call-to-re-establish-a-fairer-society and http://www.archbishopofyork.org/articles.php/2244/archbishop-explains-compelling-culture-shift-is-needed