Civil servants on over £100k rises by 40pc in a year

Public will look at these huge salaries with disbelief, say Tories, as nearly 3,000 mandarins take home six-figure pay

The number of civil servants earning more than £100,000 has risen by more than 40 per cent in a year.
Figures show that 2,915 mandarins earned six-figure salaries in the year to March 2024 despite cuts to state spending elsewhere.
It is an increase of 870 compared to the previous year and represents the largest ever year-on-year rise. It comes after the Government confirmed it would offer senior civil servants an above-inflation pay rise of 5.5 per cent.
Last year they received an increase between 3.82 per cent and 8.7 per cent.
The statistics raise questions about value for money in Whitehall, with more mandarins earning £100,000 than at any point since Sir Tony Blair was in office in 2007.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), which carried out an analysis, found that the number of civil servants on six-figure salaries had increased more in the past year than the previous five years combined.
A total of 2,625 civil servants earn between £100,000 and £150,000, up from 1,850 in the year to March 2023.
The number of mandarins taking home salaries ranging from £150,000 to £200,000 now stands at 260, up 85 on last year, with a further 50 civil servants on £200,000 or more.
Prominent names on six-figure sums include Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, Amanda Pritchard, the NHS England chief executive, and Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary.
Also earning in excess of £100,000 are Dame Antonia Romeo, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, and Richard Hughes, who leads the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The TPA research also showed the total number of civil servants rose by more than 23,000 in the past year. The headcount now stands at 542,840, up 4.4 per cent.
It is the biggest increase in a decade outside of the pandemic and came despite the previous Tory government vowing to cut 66,000 Civil Service jobs and return to pre-pandemic levels.
Greg Smith, a shadow business minister and the Tory MP for Buckingham, said: “These figures show that we have an ever-larger Civil Service with huge salaries.
“The public will look on at this with disbelief.”
A pledge to drive down the number of civil servants was scrapped by Labour last month, prompting fears that problems related to Whitehall bureaucracy will worsen before they improve.
The number of frontline delivery staff was up by 8 per cent, but this was dwarfed by an increase in backroom employees.
There were 4,850 Civil Service communications staff as of March, up 18 per cent from March 2023 and accounting for almost one in 100 Whitehall employees.
The findings of the analysis come despite concerns about the productivity of civil servants.
Many departments did not hit mandatory attendance targets requiring staff to be at their desks at least three days a week until earlier this year.
Occupancy data has not been published since the general election was called in May, prompting fears a rise in home working could affect productivity under Labour.
John O’Connell, chief executive of  the TPA, said: “Taxpayers will be shocked to learn that there has been such a surge in the size of the civil service, given the institution’s poor performance.
“But with back-office bureaucrats and senior officials making up much of the increase, this explains why there hasn’t been an improvement in frontline services.
“The new Government should be radically transforming our bureaucracy towards one focused on key services, rather than finding a way to spin the next crisis.”
A government spokesman said: “Our entire focus is on the work of delivering change and we will ensure that the Civil Service has the tools needed to do that.
“We are taking immediate action to stop all non-essential government consultancy spending in 24/25 and halve government spending on consultancy in future years, with a target saving of £550 million in 2024-25 and £680 million in 2025-26.
“We will develop a strategic plan for a more efficient and effective Civil Service, including bold measures to improve skills, harness digital technology, and improve public services.”