Labour MP Adrian Bailey plans to probe soaring fat-cat pay

By HUGO DUNCAN FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Updated: 17:09 EST, 28 October 2010

Pressure is mounting on the government to clamp down on fat-cat pay after the bosses of Britain's biggest companies saw earnings soar.

The head of a powerful group of MPs said he planned to launch an inquiry into the astonishing largesse of Britain's captains of industry.

Adrian Bailey, chairman of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, said people setting pay 'need to justify their actions'.

Under pressure: Calls are mounting for a clampdown on big bosses' pay

The Labour MP said: 'Given the restraints on the public sector and lower income workers in the private sector, this is outrageous, and I hope shareholders in these companies will bring the management to book.

'If necessary we will do a full-blown inquiry.'

The average paid to FTSE 100 chief executives jumped 55pc to £4.9m in the year to June, as reported in yesterday's Daily Mail.

It sparked fury among unions, politicians and shareholders who demanded action to bring excessive boardroom pay under control.

Business Secretary Vince Cable this week launched a review into corporate excess.

He said last night: 'It is time for executive pay to come back down to earth. We have to question whether it is linked closely enough to company performance.' Bart Becht, chief executive of Cillit Bang and Vanish maker Reckitt Benckiser, received £93m last year, making him the big winner in the pay report by Incomes Data Services.

M&S chairman Sir Stuart Rose, no stranger to controversy over pay, said: 'As we come out of recession, businesses need to keep growing. We need the best people to get those businesses growing. But absolutely, levels of remuneration need to be looked at.' Bluechipbosses have for years enjoyed lavish perks on top of their handsome salaries.

Cadbury previously stumped up £910,000 towards former boss Todd Stitzer's £1.41m Surrey mansion. Thomson Reuters paid for business class flights for its chief executive's nanny. And Burberry has handed out fivefigure clothing allowances.

Union leader Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, urged the government to 'put your money where your mouth is' and crack down on excess. ' Boardroom greed is alive and well,' he said. 'This is scandalous at a time when workers up and down the land are suffering real cuts in their pay and to their services. These people have no shame.'

Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, said: ' Shareholders want success to be recognised, but it's important that rewards are linked to a genuine and sustainable improvement in business performance.'