Anchor Care(?) Homes.

Taken from last weeks Daily Mail.

A public sector housing boss has secured an earnings package worth almost £1,000 a day.

John Belcher, whose organisation runs subsidised homes for the elderly, received taxpayer-funded salary and perks worth more than £360,000 last year.

Dr Belcher, 61, chief executive of the Anchor Trust, has more than doubled the value of his pay package over seven years.

Canadian-born Dr Belcher also serves on the Audit Commission, the public spending watchdog.

Last year he earned £327,000, including a £72,000 bonus and a car allowance of £15,000. He also received £1,000 in medical insurance and £32,880 in pension contributions, bringing the total to £360,880.

The TaxPayers' Alliance said it was 'outrageous', while the Housing Corporation, which regulates housing associations, warned that 'salary increases should be proportionate'.

The pay of housing association chiefs shot up after the organisations expanded when councils hived off their housing estates to independent associations, which are often run by former town hall officials.

They are due for a further boost of £400million over the next few months under Gordon Brown's plans to build more social housing to ease the impact of the credit crunch.

Anchor Trust, provides housing for 50,000 elderly people. It runs care homes and sells sheltered housing but its biggest operation is as a landlord of subsidised housing.
John Belcher earns nearly twice the £189,994 earned by Prime Minister Gordon Brown

It receives £600million in housing grants from the Treasury.

Dianne Jeffrey, its outgoing chairman, said it was 'more complex' than a traditional association and was competing with the private sector.

She added: 'We demand a high level of leadership, professionalism and commitment of our chief executive. The salary and bonus reflect that.

The panel that decided Dr Belcher's pay was headed by Mrs Jeffrey, her successor Aman Dalvi, who is a housing association chief, another housing association boss and a construction industry representative.

She said they had 'an appropriate mix of skills and experience'.

But Matthew Sinclair, of the Tax-Payers' Alliance, said: 'When taxpayers who foot the bill are facing hard times, it is outrageous that an official at a housing association has obtained such an extravagant salary.


The news of Dr Belcher's pay comes amid growing concern about the salaries of council chiefs.

Eight town hall bosses are paid more than £200,000. Andrea Hill, chief executive of Suffolk County Council, says she deserves £220,000 a year because her job is 'high risk'.