More than 500 Transport for London staff earned in excess of £100,000 last year — and almost as many shared pay-offs totalling £30.7 million.
TfL’s 2018-19 annual report revealed that the number of six-figure salaries fell year-on-year from 617 to 515.
There were 475 “exit packages”, worth a total of £30.7 million. The cost of pay-offs was down from £51.4 million, when 704 staff were made redundant.
Mayor Sadiq Khan, who chairs TfL, had vowed to curb the cost of executive exit deals after they hit £100 million for the previous two years.
This year’s biggest pay-off was to Valerie Todd, who received £444,378 on leaving her post as Crossrail talent and resources director.
She was on a contract, agreed a decade ago, which awarded her 12 months’ salary in lieu of notice and other severance pay.
Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon said the exit package sum was “quite frankly insulting” when “Crossrail has been delayed for two years at a cost of £3 billion”.
She added: “TfL seem to be rewarding failure not success.” New managing directors now have their notice period limited to six months, three months for directors, and a remuneration committee checks proposed pay-offs.
TfL’s biggest earner was commissioner Mike Brown, on a £355,944 basic salary with a £133,586 bonus for 2017-18. His total package was worth £508,301.
Of the total 515 staff earning six-figure salaries, 117 only did so because severance pay boosted their wage. Such salaries at Crossrail fell from 53 to 47.
Total headcount, including agency staff, decreased by 1,176 people and the wage bill fell three per cent to £2.1 billion.
Staff earning a basic salary of £100,000-plus rose from 169 to 171, though TfL said nine had since left and only one had been replaced.
