Ten best-paid civil servants all work for Network Rail or HS2

Fat cat rail bosses have spearheaded a surge in the number of civil servants earning more than the Prime Minister.

No fewer than 442 officials at government departments and quangos take home more than the £150,000 per year earned by theresa May – 14 per cent up in only a year.

the ten best-paid bureaucrats in the country worked for only two organisations – Network Rail and HS2, the group building the controversial high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham.

the highest-paid civil servant, Network Rail boss Mark Carne, earns £750,000 – five times as much as the PM.

Despite all the problems faced by Britain’s ailing railway system, his pay increased by £65,000, or 9 per cent, in a year, according to the database of ‘high earner’ Whitehall salaries sneaked out by the Cabinet Office yesterday.

Only this week Network Rail has been accused of failing to finalise its schedule of Christmas engineering work in time – leading to thousands buying tickets for trains which will be cancelled later.

the figures show that Network Rail has no fewer than 70 people on more than Mrs May, up from 48 last year. Network Rail managing director Francesco Paonessa received £485,000; Philip Hufton, its managing director for England and Wales, was paid £480,000; and Graham Hopkins, its group safety, technical and engineering director, earned £475,000.

at HS2, 51 people are on more than the Prime Minister, compared with 42 last year. Its chief executive, Mark thurston, earned £605,000, while chief financial officer Steve allen received £420,000, and Jim Crawford, its phase one managing director, was paid £405,000.

the huge salaries across Whitehall have cost taxpayers £82million this year – a rise of 41 per cent on the £58million cost just two years ago. the ‘ high earners’ total does not cover highly paid individuals at local councils or NHS trusts. the figures raise more questions over whether the Government is doing enough to cut costs.

Other high payers in Whitehall are the Cabinet Office, which has 40 bureaucrats on more than £150,000 and the Ministry of Defence with 17. a series of quangos also pay out large amounts, including NHS England (34), the Civil aviation author- ity (12), and the Nuclear Nuclear Decommissioning authority and Defence Equipment and Support (both 10).

John O’Connell, of the taxPayers’ alliance campaign group, said: ‘ taxpayers will find it remarkable that they are paying quite so many sky-high salaries to senior apparatchiks when austerity is still needed to fix the public finances.

‘Public sector pay should be linked much more closely to achievement and results, as they are in the private sector.’

Network Rail chairman Peter Hendy – who himself earns £380,000 for four days a week – defended the huge salaries, saying its ‘pay packages are relatively low by comparison’ with the private sector.

the Cabinet Office said: ‘the Civil Service deals with complex issues and needs to attract, recruit, retain and motivate highly skilled individuals.

‘However, the Government is determined to save taxpayers’ money and the number of individuals earning £150,000 and above in central government has reduced by 20 per cent since 2010.’

÷theresa May is paying her new male director of communications Robbie Gibb £140,000 a year – £15,000 more than his female predecessor, Katie Perrior, who quit when the Prime Minister announced her June snap election, official data shows.

‘So many sky-high salaries’