Top civil servants' salaries and perks are revealed

The list of salary and perks was revealed after Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to lift what he called a "cloak of secrecy" around government.

Sir John Elvidge, the Scottish Government's Permanent Secretary, was named in the list as receiving between 160,000 and 164,999.

The chief executive of NHS Scotland, Dr Kevin Woods, was revealed as being in the same salary bracket as Sir John.

Stella Manzie, the director general of justice and communities in the Scottish Government, was listed as receiving between 150,000 and 154,999.

Meanwhile, the top earner across the UK was John Fingleton, chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading, whose annual package – including taxable benefits and allowances – is up to 279,999. Other big earners were NHS chief executive David Nicholson who earns up to 259,999 and Joe Harley, the IT director general and chief information officer at the Department for Work and Pensions, whose salary is revealed to be up to 249,999.

The chief of the defence staff, Air Chief Marshal, Sir Jock Stirrup, gets up to 244,999 and the head of the civil service, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, receives 239,999.

Meanwhile, details of government contracts worth more than 10,000 will be published on a single website from September as part of the UK government's new measures on openness.

Items of government spending of more than 25,000 will also be available from November and local government spending in excess of 500 from next January.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude will oversee the process – and the creation of a public "right to data" at the head of a Public Sector Transparency Board.