NR and HS2 Ltd staff dominate public sector ‘rich list’

The rail industry dominates a ‘rich list’ of the highest-paid employees of public sector bodies.

Compiled by the Taxpayers’ Alliance campaign group, the list represents the top one per cent of public salaries. The rail sector filled all of the top ten earners at quangos (arms-length government organisations).

The data highlights that rail staff within the top one per cent earn far more than their equivalents in comparable bodies. It identifies 238 officials, of whom 52 work for Network Rail and 37 for HS2 Ltd. In comparison, only seven work for Highways England.

Network Rail Chief Executive Mark Carne is the highest paid - on £749,999, which is £150,000 more than any other public servant on the list. He earns double the equivalent Chief Executive at Highways England (Jim O’Sullivan), and four times as much as the Chief Executive of NHS England (Simon Stevens).

Number 2 on the list is Mark Thurston, Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd, on £604,999.

Francis Paonessa, head of Infrastructure Projects at Network Rail, is third on £484,999, followed by Phil Hufton, Managing Director for England and Wales, and Graham Hopkins, Group Director, Safety, Technical and Engineering.

David Waboso, Network Rail’s head of Digital Railway, is on £384,999, slightly ahead of Chairman Sir Peter Hendy on £379,999. Hendy’s equivalent at Highways England (Colin Matthews) does not appear on the list of high earners.

The highest-paid woman on the list is Susan Cooklin, Route Services Director for Network Rail, in 13th place on £349,999. She heads the department that provides IT consulting services and the national supply chain to the devolved route network.

The 52 Network Rail employees on the list together earn more than £13 million a year.

Most Route Managing Directors appear on the list, earning £200,000-£240,000 (slightly more than British Transport Police Chief Constable Paul Crowther).

The figures were calculated for 2016-17, and are divided into pay bands of £5,000.

The list was derived from two Cabinet Office sources: Public Bodies 2017, and Senior Officials ‘high earners’ salaries 2017. The full list can be found at http:// www.taxpayersalliance.com/the_ quangocrat_rich_list