MOST of Guernsey’s top civil servants are refusing to say whether they will follow their chief executive’s example and freeze their pay for 2010.

Chief officers presented a united wall of silence when asked if they, too, would attempt to set an example for other public sector staff.

States of Guernsey chief executive Mike Brown said he would not take a pay rise in 2010 because of the dire state of the island’s finances.

He wanted all public workers to take note of his actions and be responsible in their pay negotiations.

The Guernsey Press approached his fellow chief officers asking if they would follow suit but was told that it was a matter for employee representative groups and not for the individuals.

Mr Brown wrote to the employee organisations responsible for pay talks saying that restraint was important.

‘I made it clear that the States respects the process of collective bargaining and the pay negotiation arrangements which exist. My plea to employee groups was issued on a corporate basis and not a personal one,’ he said.