Introduction

In 2011, Newcastle City Council set up the Newcastle Fairness Commission (NFC), a group of 18 people who were invited to prepare a report with the aim to set out the principles that would help Newcastle to become a fairer city. The NFC, which was chaired by Professor Chris Brink, the Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University, published its report in 2012 (NCC and Newcastle University, 2012). This article engages with what this report has to say about how salaries ought to be allocated within organisations, which it recognises as an important dimension of fairness. More specifically, the author shall engage with the question whether or not the theoretical recommendations made in the report ought to guide the practical allocation of financial resources in Newcastle University, the organisation that the author works for, and the third biggest employer in the city of Newcastle. The author's focus on Newcastle University stems from the belief that, as an employee, he has a greater right and duty to contribute to financial reform in his own, rather than in other organisations. Whereas the author shall not seek to argue for this position, which is based on his belief in participatory democracy, his hope is that these views will also inspire financial reform elsewhere.

A critical evaluation of the work of the Newcastle Fairness Commission

The NFC recognises that Newcastle is a relatively poor city, which it takes to be shown, for example, by the fact that it has more than 70,000 people who live in the 10% most deprived areas in the country, a relatively large proportion of people with significant debts, a relatively large proportion of children living in poverty, and an estimated 30% of households who suffer from fuel poverty (NCC and Newcastle University, 2012: 11). The region also has a higher rate of unemployment compared to the national average. While life expectancy is generally lower than the national average, some parts of the city suffer some of the highest rates of morbidity and mortality in the whole of the United Kingdom. The difference in life expectancy between some who live in some areas of the city and some who live in others exceeds 14 years (NCC and Newcastle University, 2012: 11).