More than 500 council chiefs in UK earn more than British PM, some using taxes for perks

George Osborne has warned council chiefs in England they should not be using taxpayers’ money to pay for private health insurance as he promised to rein in “unacceptable” pay and perks in the public sector.

The British Chancellor indicated that he would be issuing new guidance to public sector employers after he said figures released under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act showed “scope” for further savings.

An analysis by the Daily Mail and the Taxpayers’ Alliance of almost 6,000 FoI requests found that in 2013/14 there were 537 council chiefs earning more than the British Prime Minister.

Another 3,483 council staff and 50,084 NHS staff and 7,554 university staff earned more than £100,000 a year.

The paper said the investigation had also found thousands of council bosses were charging taxpayers for private medical insurance and public money was being used to “gag” council staff following scandals.

Mr Osborne told the Mail: “Taxpayers’ money shouldn’t be used to pay for private medical insurance, gagging orders to cover up bad practice aren’t justified and salaries above a certain level should be approved through a formal process and published so the public who foot the bill know what’s going on.

“I intend to issue new guidance sending a clear signal to public sector employers on pay and terms – setting out what I, and I suspect most taxpayers, see as unacceptable.

“What this shows is the scope that remains for savings at a time when budgets need to be trimmed. We’re determined to do all we can to rein in excess where we find it.”