THE chief executive of Cambridgeshire County Council has revealed he has not had a pay rise since being appointed in March 2008- and has no intention of taking one this year either.

Mark Lloyd, the �196,000 head of the county council, said his self imposed pay freeze was “the kind of leadership I and my fellow senior officers want to provide”.

It was important to recognise, he said, that “everybody’s suffering, and we won’t be trying to line our own back pockets through that process. I’ve always ensured since arriving here almost three years ago that my salary is a matter of public record, as are my expenses. It’s all on the council’s website for people to see.

“Since arriving here, I’ve not sought any kind of pay increment, nor will I in the coming year. So in essence I’ll have had a four year pay freeze since taking up the post in this council.”

Mr Lloyd was answering questions on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire about the 450 planned job cuts at Shire Hall and was quizzed about his pay and the allowances paid to councillors.

“The councillors’ allowance is actually fairly modest,” he said. “And the leader, the person that works more than full-time, Councillor Jill Tuck, to ensure that we’ve got the right political leadership, gets about �30,000 a year.

“And whilst that clearly is a significant number, I don’t think it reflects what that leadership role in all councils is potentially worth”.

Mr Lloyd also revealed the anguish he felt for 450 people expected to lose their jobs in the coming year from the current work force of 6,200.

“I work with inspirational dedicated professionals,” he said. “And each and every one of them in an ideal world I’d like to hang on to. That’s not going to be the case.”

He added it was also important “we don’t just try and load 450 employees-worth of work on those people that remain. So there will be things that we simply need to stop doing, so that people who are working long and hard right now don’t have to work even harder than they’re doing at the moment. That’s part of my duty to them.”

At one point during the interview Mr Lloyd said he had got “the best job in Cambridgeshire. It’s a fantastic job.” The challenge was to make sure public services are targeted to those who need them most.

“And that’s the big challenge that I, in a strange way, am looking forward to taking forward. I want to do my best for the people of Cambridgeshire”.