London: Around 300 British civil servants
earned more than the country`s Prime Minister, David Cameron,
last year, government figures have revealed.
The Cabinet Office figures show that 291 UK government
officials took home pay above 150,000 pounds whereas Cameron`s
salary is 132,000 pounds. In fact, one civil servant was paid
some 500,000 pounds last year, `The Daily Telegraph` reported.
Tony Fountain, the chief executive of the Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority, was paid a salary of 380,000 pounds
and he also received an extra 70,810 pounds payment towards
his pension and a 76,650 pounds as second home allowance.
Among the other highest earners were Sir David
Nicholson, the chief executive of the National Health Service
in England, and John Fingleton, chief executive of the Office
of Fair Trading, who were both on salaries of 280,000 pounds.
Andrew Haines, the chief executive of the Civil
Aviation Authority, took home 255,000 pounds, while a number
of senior officials at the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA),
which is charged with overseeing the Olympic Games in London
next year, were also high up the list, according to figures.
Dennis Hone, the chief executive of the ODA, was on
315,000 pounds and Howard Shiplee, director of construction,
received 290,000 pounds.
The organisation with the most high-earning officials
was the Ministry of Defence, with 27 individuals on the list,
including General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence
Staff on 240,000 pounds, the figures revealed.
However, Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office
Minister, said the number of civil servants on salaries of
more than 150,000 pounds has been cut by more than 50 over the
past year. "This week we have revealed a staggering 3.75
billion pounds of cash savings," he added.
PTI
