The government has released a list of the 291 civil servants and officials who are paid more than £150,000.

There are 54 fewer individuals on the list compared to 2010, which the Cabinet Office says represents a saving of £10m per year or 16 per cent overall.

The highest-paid civil servant on the list is Tony Fountain, who is CEO of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Fountain has a total pay ceiling of £379,999. His £70,810 allowance in lieu of pension, and a second home allowance of £76,650 (which will reduce to £54,750 in November) are also included on the list.

That is compared to the salary of the prime minister, which is a comparatively paltry sum of £142,500.

Dennis Hone, who is of the chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority and has a total pay ceiling of £314,999, while Howard Shiplee, who is director of construction for the ODA, has a pay ceiling of £289,999.

Check out the complete spreadsheet via the Cabinet Office here.

A total of 51 officials from the Department of Health make the list, for a cumulative sum of £9,244,949.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has 23 officials on the list, including 10 who work for the Olympic Delivery Authority, costing a total of £4,385,000.

Meanwhile the Cabinet Office itself pays £3,285,000 for the services of 19 top officials and civil servants including Sir Gus O'Donnell, head of the Civil Service.

In a statement, Francis Maude, who is the Cabinet Office minister, said:

"This week we have revealed a staggering £3.75 billion of cash savings by driving out inefficiencies and unjustifiable costs in central government reinforcing our ambitious targets to cut waste and save money have paid off."