Chairman's Share Options

So Sir Philip Hampton, Chairman of RBS, is now awarded share options to a value of £1.5m in addition to his annual salary of £750k. In the light of the (justified) criticisms of Sir Fred Goodwin’s pension pot, are we seeing a common theme here? However, not only is the theme common but so is the company. A (justified?) criticism of the City was that the power of the institutions such as Pension funds had the necessary clout, by virtue of their shareholdings, to influence companies, though these comments will not venture specifically into that area. Have the Government, who represent the majority of shareholders being the taxpayers, got a clue as to what is going on? If they did, then why are they not using their clout as they have the majority of the shares?