Public Servant Lifestyle

Are you - or your boss? - on the first-ever list most highly paid people in the public sector - those earning above £150,000 a year in Government Departments, Quangos, other public bodies & public corporations.

Key findings of The Public Sector Rich List 2006 - published by campaign group The TaxPayers' Alliance - are:

There are three people in the public sector who earn more than £1 million a year

There are 14 people in the public sector earning above £500,000 a year

There are 46 people earning above £250,000 a year

According to the study, the 171 people on the list had (on average) a pay rise of 8.4% between 2005 and 2006. This is double average earnings growth (including bonuses) across the country, which is 4.2%.

The average total pay of the 171 people on the list is £259,701 per annum. This works out at just under £5,000 a week. Although many people on the list are likely to work longer, based on a 35-hour week, this is equal to over £140 an hour.

The 10 most highly paid people in the public sector earn on average around 40 times the amount earned by someone starting out as a police officer, nurse or serving soldier.

The 12 most highly paid people in the NHS earn an average of £183,000 each. By comparison, the starting salary for a nurse is around £19,000.

The Chief Executives of nine Regional Development Agencies earn an average of £178,000 each, although none of these Regional Development Agencies are based in London.

Prime Minister Tony Blair is only the 88th highest paid person in the public sector.

Follow this link to access the complete Public Sector Rich List 2006 (332KB)

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