Charity boss is slammed over his ‘obscene’ £434k pay deal

A FAMILY planning charity has been criticised for handing its boss an ‘obscene’ £434,000 pay package.

Marie Stopes International gave chief executive Simon Cooke, pictured, £217,250 in basic salary last year after helping a record number gain access to contraception and abortions.

Mr Cooke was then also paid a bonus equal to his basic salary.

Critics attacked the reproductive and sexual healthcare charity, which is partfunded by the taxpayer, for the huge pay packet, which came after 1,100 jobs were cut at the organisation in the same period.

Mark Flannagan, former chief of the charity Beating Bowel Cancer, called the renumeration deal ‘obscene’ and said Mr Cooke should turn down the bonus.

Writing in magazine Third Sector, Mr Flannagan, who now works at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, added: ‘I cannot see how anyone can justify almost doubling what is already an extremely large salary for a charity boss.’

He called for a ‘grown-up debate about what constitutes a reasonable reward’ for charity bosses, adding that this ‘should give way to an understanding of just how wrong so-called “bonuses” are in the sector’.

This is not the first time Mr Cooke, who previously worked as head of international razor-blade manufacturer Super-Max, has been handed a giant bonus by the charity, named after birth control clinic pioneer Marie Stopes. He received £233,303 in 2016 and £251,831 in 2015, but his basic salary was lower at that time.

Explaining the pay packet, a spokesman said that running Marie Stopes International involved finances of £290million a year. He added: ‘Last year more than 30million women and men worldwide were using contraception provided by us and we averted an estimated 6.4million unsafe abortions.

‘The remuneration package is set by the board of trustees, as part of their duty to ensure our organisation has the best leadership to deliver ambitious targets.’