300 Whitehall staff paid more than PM

Nearly 300 civil servants and quango chiefs earn more than David Cameron's £142,500 salary, the Cabinet Office disclosed last night. The top earner is Tony Fountain, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority chief, on £375,000-£380,000. He also received £147,460 in home and pension-related allowances.

Olympic Delivery Authority chief Dennis Hone was paid £310,000-£315,000. The MoD had 27 staff on the list – the most of any organisation – including Chief of Defence Staff General Sir David Richards on £235,000-£240,000.

There are 291 big earners paid more than £150,000, compared with 345 in 2010.

Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said £10m had been trimmed from their salary bill. He said: "This is another example of cutting the deficit without cutting frontline services."