Greenbury hits the civil service

Another little Greenbury problem has cropped up for Kenneth Clarke. The proposed new private sector-style accounting regime for government, published this week, will include an annual report for each department, just as if they were companies. The permanent secretary's pay is to be disclosed by name and the other top staff are to be placed anonymously in salary bands.

This will bring the civil service into line with current company reporting. But 10 days ago, Sir Richard Greenbury recommended complete disclosure of every director's earnings by name, and abolition of anonymous bands. Kenneth Clarke has another U-turn to make.

Edited by Peter Rodgers