Who Is The Richest Of Them All?


Local NHS staff on Public Sector Rich List

A member of staff at Hammersmith and Fulham Primary Care Trust has appeared on the Public Sector Rich List for 2009.

Chief Operating Officer Claire Holloway appears in 770th place on the list, published by the TaxPayers' Alliance, which shows the remuneration details of 806 public sector workers earning £150,000 or more. According to the report, Holloway earnt £92,500 in 2007-8 and £152,500 in 2008-9 – an increase of 64.9%.

The TaxPayers' Alliance says those on the list come from 358 government departments, quangos, public corporations, other public bodies and nationalised industries. The most highly paid person in the public sector this year was Mark Fisher of the Royal Bank of Scotland, whose remuneration was £1,388,000, while Adam Crozier of Royal Mail was the highest paid non-bank employee in the public sector, earning £1,309,000.

The BBC, meanwhile, has at least 53 people on £150,000 or over and Transport for London has 50 members of staff on or above £150,000. In comparison, the Treasury - the main Government department responsible for tackling the recession - has a modest three people on the Rich List while Gordon Brown is only the 324th highest paid person in the public sector.

According to the report, there are eight people in the public sector who earn more than £1 million a year, compared with four people last year.

John O’Connell, Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Executive pay in the public sector is completely divorced from the reality of Britain’s fiscal crisis. Ordinary families, struggling to make ends meet in the recession, don’t pay their taxes to fund gold-plated deals for public sector fat cats. All parties now agree that excessive pay packages must be tackled but the time for action is now, not next year. Taxpayers want genuine transparency, accountability and restraint in setting top public sector pay.”

The TaxPayer's Alliance say the figures in the report comprise not just basic salaries but include salary, bonuses, incentive plans, benefits-in-kind and pension contributions.

Commenting on their Chief Operating Officer's pay, a spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham PCT said: “The TaxPayers' alliance made no attempt to verify the details of the change in reported pay for Claire Holloway. The fact is that it relates in part to a change from part time to full time working and a substantial increase in responsibilities. In 2009, with agreement from our auditors, we also changed our reporting system for independent consultants covering senior positions. The figure quoted is the total cost to the organisation and includes VAT, travel and accommodation expenses, plus the consultancy firm's employer costs for pension and national insurance. It is not a straightforward pay increase or actual take-home pay for the individual. Removing VAT from the figure would reduce it to below the £150,000 threshold the TaxPayers' alliance used for inclusion in the report.”

The Public Sector Rich List does not include senior staff in local authorities as these are covered in a separate report.

13 December 2009

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