Letter: Cost-neutral pay

Richard Kerley, in his denouncement of incremental salary scales in the police, teaching, health service and local government (Comment, 1 December) misses one crucial point. Those salary scales are cost-neutral. In the normal course of events, incumbents retire or move on from their jobs at the top of their salary scale and are replaced by new recruits placed at the bottom level.

It is somewhat surprising that someone rejoicing in the title of Professor of Management should have missed this fact. Or is he, like so many academics, trying to spin the facts for political effect?

James D Brown

Burnside Road

Elgin