Scottish Water boss tops high earners list

Mr Ackroyd has said he would give some of his annual bonus to charity

The chief executive of Scottish Water has topped a list of Scotland's highest paid public servants.

The Scottish government released a list of the nine people earning more than £150,000 a year in Scottish non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and public corporations.

Scottish Water boss Richard Ackroyd drew a basic salary of between £260,000 and £264,999 a year.

Five other Scottish Water executives also featured in the list.

Earlier this year, Mr Ackroyd announced he would be giving a quarter of his annual performance-related bonus - which is not included in the list - to charity.

Meanwhile Lena Wilson, the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, drew a salary of between £200,000 and £204,999. Barry White, chief executive of the Scottish Futures Trust earned between £180,000 and £184,999.

And Philip Riddle, the chief executive of VisitScotland, earned between £160,000 and £164,999.

Top earners

Scotland also has three Scottish government civil servants who earn more than £150,000.

Last month the UK Government Cabinet Office revealed the permanent secretary to the Scottish government, Sir John Elvidge, was paid between £160,000 and £164,999.

Dr Kevin Woods, the head of the Scottish government's health department and chief executive of NHS Scotland, drew a salary of between £160,000 and £164,999, while Stella Manzie, the director-general for justice and communities in the Scottish government, earned between £150,000 and £154,999.

A Scottish government spokesman said "every effort" was being made to ensure public sector pay was "affordable and sustainable".

He also said Finance Secretary John Swinney had written to NDPB and public corporation chief executives asking them to consider waiving their annual bonus.

Helen Lennox, Scottish Water's head of corporate affairs, said customers were getting "increasing value for money" from the publicly owned company.

She said: "Our economic regulator recently commented that we were among the financially strongest companies in the UK's water industry - of which Scotland can be proud."