Just eight posts earning over a benchmark of £78,943 were approved by politicians in 2014.
The number of applications for top-earning posts has been dropping for the last three years – there were nine applications last year (one of which was refused) compared to 19 the year before and 26 the year before that.
A new safeguard process put in place in 2011 requires that any post at or over a Civil Service Grade 15, which currently pays £78,943, must be signed off by the States Employment Board, a panel of politicians led by the Chief Minister.
The new posts approved by the board were: the new Attorney General, a Director of External Relations, a consultant in child and adolescent mental health, a new Head of International Agreements, a Chief Officer for External Relations, a consultant radiologist, a psychiatric consultant and a Director of Information Services.
Four of the new jobs were at the Chief Minister’s department (with combined salaries of up to £472,543) and three were at the Health and Social Services department (with combined salaries of up to £410,473).
The figures were revealed in the annual report of the States Employment Board, which said: “The rationale for payment in all cases was based on current job evaluation, relevant benchmarking information and prevailing market forces.
“An analysis of all applications made under P.59/2011 is used to inform work on succession planning, senior manager compensation, performance management and retention and recruitment planning.”