More than 9,000 public sector employees are earning a higher wage than the prime minister, who has previously questioned pay levels in top jobs.
New research conducted for BBC Panorama found that there were more than 38,000 public employees earning above £100,000 and 1,000 people on more than £200,000.
David Cameron took a 5% pay cut when he took office and earns £142,500.
Details from 2,400 public bodies puts the number of high earners far above previous estimates.
The salary details come as the government warns that public spending needs to be drastically curbed.
The government has already revealed that pay for the top 5% of earners in the public sector has risen by 51% in the past 10 years.
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“Start Quote
End Quote Francis Maude Cabinet Office MinisterYou're sort of blithely told you cannot fill the job unless you paid this amount and actually I think often that's too easy, it's a lazy view”
The prime minister and his cabinet took the 5% pay cut when they formed the government at a time of record deficits and a sluggish economy.
In collaboration with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Panorama requested pay details from most of the UK's publicly funded organisations, including local authorities, schools, universities, the BBC, the NHS and the government agencies known as quangos.
Across the UK, the NHS has the highest number of high earners, with more than 26,000 people on more than £100,000. Of those, nearly 6,500 earn more than Mr Cameron. The top NHS earner is a GP on at least £475,000 and seven out of the top 10 in the NHS are GPs.
The database, compiled from both public records and freedom of information requests, excludes some major publicly owned corporations, including Royal Mail, Network Rail and Channel 4 because they operate largely as commercial concerns.
The BBC's salaries were included because the BBC is funded by the £145.50 licence fee paid by UK households. There are 331 managers at the BBC earning more than £100,000.
Lucy Adams, the head of BBC People, said the corporation needs to compete with the private sector for top talent in the media and entertainment industries. She said the BBC is dealing with the issue of executive pay
She added that Director General Mark Thompson - who for the year 2009/10 received a total remuneration of £838,000 including base pay of £668,000 and £7,000 in benefits in addition to a £163,000 pension payment - and other senior managers at the BBC had taken pay cuts: "We have given up, all the executives have given up two months' pay. We have had a pay freeze for the next four years."
At the local council level, the chief executive of Tory-controlled Wandsworth Council in south London, Gerald Jones, is the highest earner on £299,925, leading a list of 362 local council employees earning more than Mr Cameron.
In light of the new research, Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office Minister, called for a return to a more "old-fashioned" public service ethos.
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PUBLIC SECTOR SALARIES
- 38,045 earn over £100K
- 1,000 earn over £200K
- 9,187 earn more than PM
- 10 GPs earn over £300K
- 1 GP in Hillingdon PCT earns £475K
- 17 teachers earn more than PM
- 331 BBC managers earn more than £100K
- 362 local council employees earn more than PM
Mr Maude said he questioned the sweeping pay rises in the wider public sector under the former Labour government and the idea that they were necessary to attract qualified people.
"You're sort of blithely told you cannot fill the job unless you paid this amount and actually I think often that's too easy, it's a lazy view and actually getting the right people is much more about exciting them with the sense that it's a challenge, that they will find it rewarding."
Mr Maude's own department has 22 people earning more than the prime minister and the Department of Communities and Local Government, headed by Eric Pickles, has nine.
Some argue that the delivery of top quality public services commands high wages.
Consultant Stephen Taylor, who has advised government agencies and the Cabinet Office, said for positions such as running a large local authority, there were not many people with the qualifications - especially at a time when the job would require implementation of deep cuts - and they commanded high wages.
"I'd want to attract the best people in the country to be interested in doing that job," he said.
Iain Overton, editor at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, said the database - collated between February and September - was very relevant ahead of anticipated widespread public service job cuts.
"There is a challenge ahead for government - how can you justify the top salaries of the people running the system while making swingeing cuts that are most likely to affect the lowest paid in the public sector?"
Panorama: Because We're Worth It - The Taxpayers' Rich List, BBC One, Monday, 20 September at 2030BST and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.
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上任後減薪5% 英相年薪比公務員低
上任後減薪5% 英相年薪比公務員低
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BBC電視節目Panorama調查地方政府、學校、BBC、國家健保服務(NHS)和準官方機構等處後發現,英國有3.8萬名公務員薪資超過10萬英鎊,超過20萬英鎊的有1,000名。 英國正積極削減公共開支,但這份來自2,400個公務機關的調查結果卻比先前的預估還高,無疑是一大諷剌。英國政府先前曾披露,前5%高薪的公務員過去10年來薪水暴增逾一半。 鑑於國內經濟疲軟、預算赤字創新高,卡麥隆上台後即要求全部閣員減薪5%。 全英國以NHS的高薪公務員比率最高,有2.6萬人薪資逾10萬英鎊者,近6,500人薪資比首相還高。 該機構薪水最高的是位家庭醫師(GP),年薪高達47.5萬英鎊;NHS前10位高薪員工中有七位都是家庭醫師。 就連BBC本身也有331名員工薪資超過10萬英鎊,但BBC已為高階主管減薪,這些主管目前已放棄兩個月的薪水,就連未來四年的薪水也統統「凍漲」。BBC因向民眾收取執照費而被納入調查範圍。 至於地方議會部份,以保守黨占多數的南倫敦Wandsworth議會薪水最高,年薪最高的議員領有29萬9,925英鎊,全議會有362名員工薪資高於首相。 Panorama本次與英國新聞調查局合作,訪調所有由公資金資助的組織進行調查,但未納入一些以商業考量為主的公有事業體,如英國皇家郵政(Royal Mail)、英國鐵路路網公司(Network Rail)和第四頻道(Channel 4)等。 【2010/09/21 經濟日報】 |