Communities secretary, Eric Pickles, has vetoed the appointment of the new chief executive of the Audit Commission, in a bid to tackle rising public sector salaries.In the week the Government published the civil service 'rich list', Mr Pickles hit out at the commission's plans to hire a new boss on a pay and pensions package of ￡240,000.The post is the first battleground between the secretary of state and the local government sector since the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government came to power.Conservatives vowed to tackle town hall pay, but the salary to replace outgoing commission chief, Steve Bundred, was always set to be a sticking point.
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