The inquiry will produce definitive guidelines for charity trustees to help determine the remuneration of senior executives.

Following a number of high-profile stories in the media during the summer, NCVO decided to set up the inquiry. The group contains 18 members, most of whom are charity chairs but who also include Sir John Baker, former chair of the Senior Salaries Review Body and Martyn Lewis, the chair of NCVO who will chair the inquiry.

The inquiry's remit will be to review the key issues surrounding executive pay in the sector and how charity trustees should arrive at the appropriate level of pay for their senior executives.

The Charity Commission also welcomed the initiative. William Shawcross, the Chair of the Charity Commission, said in August that charities should consider whether very high salaries for executives were appropriate and that disproportionate salaries risked bringing the sector into disrepute.

The NCVO group aims to report and publish its guidelines for charity trustees in spring 2014.  

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