Scottish Enterprise chief aims to be 'worth every penny'

Published on Saturday 23 January 2010 13:31

ONE of the highest-paid public servants in Scotland has admitted that she understands people's right to comment on her salary and said she aims to be "worth every penny".

Lena Wilson, chief executive of economic development agency Scottish Enterprise, took on the job in November on a 220,000 a year salary and bonus package that makes her better paid than the Prime Minister.

It was pegged at the same level that her predecessor Jack Perry received, even though she inherited an agency whose budget was cut in half after hundreds of jobs were cut.

In an interview with Scotland on Sunday, she made her first comments on her remuneration, which caused a political row in Holyrood.

"I don't set the salary but my aim is to be humbly worth every penny and to be judged by what I achieve."

Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney has agreed to freeze the wages of high-earning public sector workers after pressure from parliamentary opposition.

However, this will not meet the demands of the Liberal Democrats, who are urging a 5 per cent cut in the salaries of all public sector employees earning 100,000 in return for the party's support for the government's budget.

The Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott estimated that at least 600 million a year goes into the pay packets of top earners in Scotland's public sector.

• Interview: Lena Wilson