Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the (a) highest and (b) lowest full-time equivalent salary paid by (i) his Department and (ii) its public bodies was in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12, (C) 2012-13, (D) 2013-14 and (E) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

In order to improve efficiency while remaining accountable to the UK taxpayer, as well as to satisfy the requirements of the right to public data, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) regularly publishes information in the public domain on where and how money is spent:

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-government-and-its-services/supporting-pages/releasing-data-in-open-formats.

For example, www.data.gov.uk shows who does what in the Department and its public bodies and how much they are paid (6 monthly). Pay multiples are also included in the Annual Accounts and in line with the transparency agenda the Department discloses salaries at and above £150,000:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121205174605/http:/www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspx

http://reference.data.gov.uk/gov-structure/organogram/?dept=decc&post=1)

However, in order for data to be used this way, it has to be released in a format which is compliant with Data Protection Act 1998 requirements.

A breakdown of the data you have requested is enclosed in tables below:

Table 1–DECC

Table 2 – DECC Public Bodies