We think that the gap between low paid workers and those on these big increases is far too wide

Unison spokeswoman

Public service union Unison said the proposed rises were large by any standards and pressed for lower paid workers to receive better rises than in the past.

But Jonathan Baume, general secretary of the Association of First Division Civil Servants (FDA) said it was "absolute nonsense" to suggest big pay increases were on the way.

Under a consultation paper being considered by the review body, the nine current senior pay grades - excluding permanent secretaries whose salaries are decided by a Whitehall committee - would be reduced to three, says the Times.

Salary range

The three bands would cover salaries from �49,000 to �183,000 - giving a 50% rise to those at the very top.

Annual salaries

Senior civil servants �44,000 to �131,000 Prime minister - �163,000 Vodafone chief exec - �837, 000 BP chief executive - �815,232 Secondary head - up to �78,800 Leading barrister - �150-200,000 Hospital consultant �66,000 Council chief executive - up to �120,000

All those civil servants would also be eligible for bonuses of at least 10%, rising to up to 20% in future years - pushing top earnings to �200,000, the newspaper reports.

Currently, senior civil servants earn between �44,000 and �131,000, according to figures from the Association of First Division Civil Servants (FDA).

Permanent secretaries earn between �104,000 and �179,000.

The new structure will link pay more closely to performance and bring earnings closer to those of senior officials in local government and the national health service, where chief executives can earn �150,000.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: "The SSRB has not published its report yet, and therefore it would be wrong to comment."

Figures only 'illustrative'

FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume said the figures behind the claimed rises were out-of-date and only "illustrative" of how the system might work.

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"The idea this is going to mean big pay increases is absolute nonsense," he said.

Mr Baume said it had already been agreed to make the salary system simpler but as there would be mid-pay peformance targets, very few civil servants would get near the maximum figures.

"We are expected to be severely disappointed - we know that because the government has already said it will not give increases when they move to the new pay bands."

Widening gap

Such pay increases are likely to prompt accusations of unfairness from public sector workers including teachers, nurses and doctors who this year received rises averaging 3.7%.

A spokeswoman for Unison told BBC News Online: "These are big pay increases by anybody's standards.

"We just hope that when it comes to negotiations on pay for other public sector workers that there will be more on offer than there has been in the past.

"After all, many public sector workers are earning just the bare minimum wage of less than �5 an hour."

Reward the front-line

Liberal Democrat chairman Mark Oaten said that while first rate civil servants were necessary for good government, it was "unfair" that essential front-line workers struggled on low pay.

For the Conservatives, shadow cabinet office minister Andrew Lansley said ministers had "conspicuously failed to recruit or retain significant numbers of senior figures from the private sector".

"Any major pay increase should be accompanied by measures to ensure that access to senior pay grades is fully open to competition from private sector applicants."