The number of Welsh Government staff earning over £50k has risen over the last three years.

Despite a drop in the overall number of civil servants – from 6,230 to 5,427 (as of September '11) – the amount earning top wages has increased.

One in seven employees (or approx. 15 per cent) now earns over £50k – 797 overall.

In 2008 approximately 12 per cent earned over that level – 775 overall.

One in ten Welsh Government employees currently earns between 50 and 60 thousand pounds.

The figures have been obtained by the Welsh Conservatives following a Written Assembly Question:

9.8% of Welsh Government staff earn £50-60,000 p.a.

3.2% earn £60,001 - 70,000 p.a.

0.8% earn £70,001 – 80,000 p.a.

0.5% earn £80,001 – 90,000 p.a.

0.4% earn £100,000+ p.a.

Shadow Minister for Finance, Paul Davies AM, said:

"If overall staffing levels have been reduced, it is only fair to assume that there will be a proportional reduction in top earners.

"Instead, taxpayers will rightly question why – during the current financial climate – the government has seen fit to reward more of its workforce with high salaries.

"Thousands of businesses in Wales would benefit greatly from more government support, while the NHS budget is being slashed by hundreds of millions of pounds. This is where government efforts should lie – not in expanding the number of highly paid civil servants.

"Compared to 2008, there are over 800 less people now working for the Welsh Government. Were they all low earners? Have senior staff been protected? Or – if departed – have they been replaced immediately?

"The Finance Minister has a public duty to answer these questions and justify the government's policy in retaining – and increasing – the number of managers and supervisors, while decreasing overall levels of staff."