David Cameron has poached four leading Whitehall efficiency advisers, who have worked for Labour, as the battle to win credibility over cutting the budget deficit intensifies.

As Gordon Brown promised a swift pre-Budget review into senior public sector pay, the Conservatives disclosed that Sir Peter Gershon, the Prime Minister’s favourite efficiency guru, who led the last big Civil Service review in 2004, was being drafted in.

Sir Peter, Bernard Gray, who has undertaken two big Ministry of Defence reviews in the past few years, Lord Levene, who advised Tony Blair on efficiency and effectiveness, and Dr Martin Read, who led a Treasury operational review this year, will work for the Conservatives’ new Productivity Advisory Board.

Philip Hammond, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said that real public service reform was not in Labour’s DNA. “The board will offer private advice and challenge as we develop our public sector productivity agenda,” he said. “The collective experience of the members of the board will ensure that the party has access to the lessons learnt from previous approaches to improving productivity as it prepares its agenda for public service reform. This shows that only the Conservatives can be trusted to spend money wisely.”

In 2004 Sir Peter, now chairman of Tate & Lyle, set out a programme to cut 70,000 civil service jobs and save £22 billion within three years by merging back-office functions such as purchasing, human resources and finances.

Although the savings were largely achieved, the permanent staff were swiftly replaced by interim managers and management consultants.

Mr Brown confirmed that the cost of the senior Civil Service would be reduced by 20 per cent, and that 10 per cent of civil servants would be relocated outside London. In addition more than 120 quangos are to be abolished and consultancy bills cut by half in the drive to save £12 billion.

With Alistair Darling expected to confirm, in the Pre-Budget Report tomorrow, a public sector deficit this year of about £180 billion, the parties are competing to show how much they can squeeze from top pay and public service waste.

While Mr Cameron recruited his advisers, Mr Brown echoed some of the Conservative leader’s earlier policy pledges. He said that in future all Civil Service and public body salaries in excess of £150,000 and bonus payments over £50,000, would have to be approved in advance by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Quangos would have to justify publicly salaries over that level and organisations found to be “squandering public funds on overgenerous salaries for officials, at the expense of services for people, will be named and shamed”.

While most of the 38 permanent secretaries would earn more than £150,000, the highest salaries are now found in local government, the NHS and quangos, where salaries of over £200,000 are common.

Labour has gone farther than the Tories, who have said that only those on salaries more than the Prime Minister (£194,000) would have to get prior approval from the Treasury. Mr Brown has now asked Bill Cockburn, chairman of the Senior Salaries Review Body, to conduct a speedy review of pay scales for senior executives in the public before the spring Budget. Those in top public sector jobs could well find that their future pay will be capped at about £150,000.

Times Recommends

• Feeble wind farms fail to hit full power
• Students revolt as 150 are crammed into one tutorial
• Politics is off as Mumsnetters get raunchy