The politicisation of senior public-sector pay is a distraction that is harming the sector’s prospects of retaining the best talent, Mike Cooke, the new pay and reward lead at the Public Sector People Managers’ Association (PPMA), has told PM .He said that while it was right to ensure that the pay of town hall chief executives should be performance-related, the “preoccupation” with senior pay was potentially damaging to recruitment and was moving the focus away from the fundamental cost savings needed across the whole sector.