George Osborne was accused of failing
to practise what he preaches last night after it emerged the number of
staff he employs on six-figure salaries has doubled since the election.
The Treasury is one of four departments where the number of civil servants on £100,000 or more has increased – despite the age of austerity.
Theresa May’s Home Office has sanctioned a 50 per cent increase in the number of six-figure bureaucrats, despite overseeing budget cuts under which the number of police has fallen throughout the land.
The number of highly-paid staff on four times the national average salary has also increased at the Government Equalities Office and the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
Critics say it is unforgivable
that the Chancellor is overseeing such profligacy at a time when
frontline public services are being slashed, businesses are having a
difficult time, and hard-pressed families are forced to tighten their
belts.
In 2011/12, there were 39 people in his department earning more than £100,000; up from 37 the year before. In 2009/10, there were just 20.
Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘George Osborne and his ministers have rightly been demanding public sector pay restraint in order to tackle the eye-watering deficit.
‘So taxpayers will be appalled
to learn that he has singularly failed to practise what he has been
preaching in his own department. When families are struggling to make
ends meet, and most civil servants who have kept their jobs are supposed
to be subject to a pay freeze, this smacks of hypocrisy.’
The figures were uncovered by Tory backbencher Dominic Raab, following a series of parliamentary questions.
Last night he said: ‘Given the urgent need to pay off our national debt, whilst avoiding frontline cuts, the astonishing number of bureaucrats on six-figures salaries should be going down, not up, across Whitehall.’
The parliamentary figures show that
the number of Treasury staff on more than £80,000 also increased – from
47 before the election to 75 last year.
A spokesman said the huge rise was the result of the department’s absorption of an organisation called Infrastructure UK.
This consists of former business leaders who advise the government on Britain’s long-term infrastructure priorities and bring in private sector investment.
As former business leaders they demand commercial pay rates.
Before the election, these people’s salaries were only half-funded by the Treasury. Now they are fully funded by the taxpayer.
The spokesman said that without Infrastructure UK, the numbers of six-figure staff would have fallen slightly.
Yet even since the absorption, the numbers on more than £100,000 rose in the following year, from 37 to 39.
He also pointed out that the total headcount in the department had fallen from 1,386 before the election to 1,187 in 2011/12.
And the amount spent on salaries had fallen from £70.6million to £59.3million.
At the Home Office, the number of staff on six figures has increased by a half from 24 to 36.
The Department for Energy and Climate Change, headed by the Lib Dems’ Ed Davey, now has 15 staff on £100,000 or more – up from 10 before the election.
And the Government Equalities Office, which is led by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, has increased the number of civil servants on six figures from one in 2009/10 to two in 2012/13.
Other departments such as the Cabinet Office have seen increases over the past year, although the totals are still lower than when Labour were in power.
In addition, Mr Raab’s figures show that in some departments – including the Foreign Office – although the number of people on £100,000-plus has fallen, there has been an increase among those earning more than £80,000.
The Treasury is one of four departments where the number of civil servants on £100,000 or more has increased – despite the age of austerity.
Theresa May’s Home Office has sanctioned a 50 per cent increase in the number of six-figure bureaucrats, despite overseeing budget cuts under which the number of police has fallen throughout the land.
The number of highly-paid staff on four times the national average salary has also increased at the Government Equalities Office and the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
Chancellor George Osborne was accused of failing
to practise what he preaches last night after it emerged the number of
staff he employs on six-figure salaries has doubled since the election
In 2011/12, there were 39 people in his department earning more than £100,000; up from 37 the year before. In 2009/10, there were just 20.
Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘George Osborne and his ministers have rightly been demanding public sector pay restraint in order to tackle the eye-watering deficit.
The figures were uncovered by Tory backbencher Dominic Raab, following a series of parliamentary questions.
Last night he said: ‘Given the urgent need to pay off our national debt, whilst avoiding frontline cuts, the astonishing number of bureaucrats on six-figures salaries should be going down, not up, across Whitehall.’
Theresa May's Home Office has sanctioned a 50
per cent increase in the number of six-figure bureaucrats, despite
overseeing budget cuts under which the number of police has fallen. The
Department for Energy and Climate Change, headed by Ed Davey (right),
now has 15 staff on £100k or more - up from 10 before the election
A spokesman said the huge rise was the result of the department’s absorption of an organisation called Infrastructure UK.
This consists of former business leaders who advise the government on Britain’s long-term infrastructure priorities and bring in private sector investment.
The Government Equalities Office, which is led
by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, has increased the number of civil
servants on six figures from one in 2009/10 to two in 2012/13
Before the election, these people’s salaries were only half-funded by the Treasury. Now they are fully funded by the taxpayer.
The spokesman said that without Infrastructure UK, the numbers of six-figure staff would have fallen slightly.
Yet even since the absorption, the numbers on more than £100,000 rose in the following year, from 37 to 39.
He also pointed out that the total headcount in the department had fallen from 1,386 before the election to 1,187 in 2011/12.
And the amount spent on salaries had fallen from £70.6million to £59.3million.
At the Home Office, the number of staff on six figures has increased by a half from 24 to 36.
The Department for Energy and Climate Change, headed by the Lib Dems’ Ed Davey, now has 15 staff on £100,000 or more – up from 10 before the election.
And the Government Equalities Office, which is led by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, has increased the number of civil servants on six figures from one in 2009/10 to two in 2012/13.
Other departments such as the Cabinet Office have seen increases over the past year, although the totals are still lower than when Labour were in power.
In addition, Mr Raab’s figures show that in some departments – including the Foreign Office – although the number of people on £100,000-plus has fallen, there has been an increase among those earning more than £80,000.
Osborne looks flustered as he helps paint a
moneybox with children at No.11. Critics say it is unforgivable that he
is overseeing such profligacy at a time when frontline public services
are being slashed, businesses are having a difficult time, and
hard-pressed families are forced to tighten their belts
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