As part of a new major project, Britain's Quangos Uncovered, the
TaxPayers' Alliance today reveals in a new quango rich list that
in 2023-24 there were 1,472
quangocrats with total remuneration
over
£100,000 and 343 receiving more
than £200,000. Total remuneration includes salary,
pension contributions, bonuses, expenses and other payments.
Looking at salaries alone there
were 315 quango staff
on a higher salary than the Prime
Minister.
The TPA have launched the project to pull back the curtain on the
extent to which ministers have yielded power to a network of
unelected, largely unaccountable organisations in recent years.
This has led to frustration amongst senior politicians at the
pace of change, with Labour's recently saying “We are taking action to
ensure decisions of national importance… are made by those who
have been elected to do so.” The TPA are supporting the
Labour government's review of quangos but are warning that the
aim should be to scrap unnecessary functions as well as bringing
delivery of significant services back under political control.
There were 33 quangos that
had 10 or more
staff receiving over
£100,000 in 2023-24. Homes
England had the most receiving over
£100,000 at 111, followed by
the BBC with 90, NEST with 56 and
the Financial Conduct
Authority with 45. Alex
Mahon, chief executive of Channel
4, had both the highest
remuneration, at £993,000 and
salary at £619,000. The TPA has previously called on the
government to sell Channel 4.
Other highly paid employees in UK quangos
include Tom Fussell, chief executive
officer of BBC commercial, who
received £774,000 in total
remuneration and Mark Thurston, the
chief executive of HS2 who received total remuneration
of £652,569. Tom Fussell's
remuneration included a bonus of
£309,000 - the highest of any employee. He was one
of 26 quangocrats who
received a bonus greater than average
earnings in the UK.
Last week the TPA revealed that
there were hundreds of individuals sitting on multiple quango
boards in 2022-23.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE
FULL RESEARCH
Key findings:
- At least 1,472 quango staff received over £100,000 in total
remuneration (comprising salary, expenses, benefits, bonuses,
compensation for loss of office and pension benefits or
contributions) in 2023-24.
- In 2023-24, at least 343 quango staff received more than
£200,000 in total remuneration.
- There were 315 quango staff in 2023-24 who received a higher
salary, as opposed to total remuneration, than the £172,153
salary entitlement of the prime minister.
- A total of 94 quangos did not provide accounts for
2023-24.
- In 2023-24, the quango with the most staff receiving at least
£100,000 in total remuneration was Homes England, which had
111.
- The BBC and National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) had the
second and third largest numbers of staff receiving in excess of
£100,000 with 90 and 56 respectively.
- A total of 33 quangos had at least 10 staff receiving more
than £100,000 in total remuneration.
- Channel 4 had the staff member with the highest salary in
2023-24, with its chief executive, Alex Mahon, receiving
£619,000. This is almost four times greater than the prime
minister's salary entitlement.
- The largest loss of office payment was given to the executive
director, enforcement, at the Competition and Markets Authority,
Michael Grenfell, who received a payment of £157,500 in
2023-24.
- At least 26 quango staff received a bonus greater than
average earnings in the UK. Of these, five quango employees
received a bonus more than £100,000 in 2023-24.
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers'
Alliance, said:
"Taxpayers will be shocked to hear that there are hundreds of
quangocrats heading up bodies they may never have heard taking
home massive pay packets the average Brit can only dream
of.
“But beyond the healthy remuneration, arguably the bigger
problem is that in many areas of government policy these quango
bosses reign supreme, with minimal ministerial or parliamentary
oversight despite the often highly sensitive and significant
nature of what their organisation is responsible for.
“The government may have signalled an intent to get a grip of
the quango state, but as well as restoring political
accountability there needs to be serious review of some of the
functions they perform.”
