Top executives’ pay in the public sector is far outstripping the rises enjoyed by their employees, making a mockery of government efforts to hold state sector pay rises at 2 per cent, pay experts said on Thursday.

Chief executives of National Health Service foundation trusts saw their pay rise almost four times as fast as their staff in the year to March 2008 – by 7.6 per cent on average – while that for other NHS trust bosses jumped 5.7 per cent, according to Income Data Services, the pay monitoring group.