9,000 public sector staff earn more than PM

MORE than 9,000 employees working in the public sector are paid more than the British Prime Minister.

An investigation by BBC1’s Panorama and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism suggested the numbers earning more than David Cameron’s annual salary of £142,500 (€170,000) are significantly higher than previously thought.

The findings by the programme, screened last night, will heighten the controversy already raging over comparative pay levels in the public and private sectors.

Based on the responses to more than 2,400 Freedom of Information requests, they show that 38,000 were paid over £100,000 (€120,000) while 1,000 received over £200,000 (€240,000).

They include GPs, teachers, police chiefs, council officers and senior civil servants, as well as senior managers in the BBC itself.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude insisted that it should not be necessary to offer “stupendous amounts” of money in the public sector.

“You can square the circle of having really good people not on telephone number salaries and massive built-in bonuses,” he told the programme.

“That public service ethos is very important. People will come and work in a public sector for salaries that aren’t competitive in a private sector sense.”

The NHS was the sector found to have the highest number of staff earning over £100,000 – 26,000 – with almost 6,500 paid more than Cameron.

Those with salaries topping the PM’s included 1,465 GPs, 10 of whom received more than £300,000 (€360,000).