Top civil servants in the West Midlands earn more than £82,000 a year, according to the latest official government statistics.

The average across the civil service in the region is well below the reported £200,000 per annum earned by former Birmingham City Council chief executive Stephen Hughes. However this still represents a generous package compared to equivalent positions in the private sector where directors salaries on average reach around £75,000 per annum – although private sector workers generally earn more than civil servants in the West Midlands.

Standard pay packages for management positions at senior executive level in the civil service drop considerably to £32,620 per year with junior executives earning just £24.310, the Office for National Statistics data revealed.

The average civil service wage across the West Midlands is £22,670 – well below the London figure of £30,380.

Nationally there are 448,835 civil servants – down by three per cent on the previous 12 months.

However, more than 600,000 jobs across the wider public sector, including local authorities and the NHS, have been lost since the coalition came to power in 2010.

The West Midlands is among the worst hit areas with a cut of 11.5 per cent. However there are still almost 30,000 civil service employees alone in the West Midlands with the Department for Works and Pensions the biggest employer.

A government-commissioned report recently claimed that the average public sector worker benefitted from a 6.1 per cent pay premium. This means they can earn as much as £1,400 a year more than someone working for private firms, once factors such as age, gender, qualifications and length of employment are taken into account.

The highest premium is in the North East of England, where the differential is 14.4 per cent. Regions where public sector workers were paid less included the West Midlands – except for Birmingham, where public salaries are greater.