The number of Transport for London staff earning more than £100,000 fell last year to 402, down from 413, according to the organisation’s latest annual report.
Covering the financial year 2015/16, the above figures include those taking voluntary severance but exclude salaries at Crossrail Limited, the TfL-backed company responsible for delivering London’s new £14bn rail link.
Last year’s reduction in highly paid staff contrasts with a 25% increase in financial year 2014/15, when numbers soared from 326 in 2013/14 to 413.
TfL’s top earner is Commissioner Mike Brown who takes home a total package worth £438,147.
Appointed last summer by former Mayor Boris Johnson, Mr Brown is responsible for slashing costs throughout the organisation in order to meet cuts in the government’s annual grant and to help fund mayor Sadiq Khan’s promised fares freeze.
A TfL spokesperson insisted top pay was “significantly lower than that in comparable organisations” and said the agency was “reviewing management layers, merging engineering departments and combining IT functions” to make savings “while maintaining and modernising the transport network.”
Today’s reported fall took place during Boris Johnson’s final year as mayor and includes both departures and a reduction in overtime which previously pushed some staff into the highest pay bands.
While the standalone TfL figures partially reverse the earlier increase, including salaries at Crossrail sees the overall number rise slightly from 454 in 2014/15 to 458 last year.
However Crossrail, where CEO Andrew Wolstenholme last year earned £775,500, is in fierce global competition for top talent as it works to deliver the ambitious project on time and on budget.
