As families struggle to cope with £1,000-per-year home energy bills the boss at the quango is being paid more than £200,000 a year. 

In addition the quango’s staff who qualified for a bonus took home an average of £1,173 extra in their pay packets. 

Ofgem, which regulates the market so the big providers do not rip off consumers, revealed in its accounts the largest bonus paid out last year was £12,500.

Ofgem is headed by CEO Dermot Nolan and he and his executive team have shared a total of £135,000 in bonus payments over the last three financial years. 

The organisation has come under fi re for being too weak with the energy giants who have been criticised for being quick to hike energy prices when oil and gas costs rise but much slower to drop prices when the cost of the raw materials drops. 

Quango bosses have also come under attack for not ensuring the energy firms do more to ensure customers are placed on cheaper tariffs rather than being left with uncompetitive deals. 

A Freedom of Information Act disclosure revealed the bonus fund for Ofgem’s staff has soared almost 35 per cent since 2010 from £664,260 to last year’s figure of £898,056. 

In the same time the number of staff at the regulator picking up bonus payments has more than doubled. 

It means 765 of the quango’s staff who qualified for a bonus payment took home an average of £1,173 each, while the average Ofgem employee’s total pay packet was £40,000. 

The revelation of how many staff at Ofgem pick up a bonus comes as the organisation also disclosed boardroom pay. 

Dermot Nolan receives an annual pay package of £205,000, while chairman David Gray is paid £160,000 per year. 

A spokesman for Ofgem said: “All of Ofgem’s pay awards, including performance related awards, are set in line with Cabinet Office guidance, and details of these are published on Ofgem’s website. 

“Ofgem’s staff are committed to making the energy market fairer, smarter and more competitive for all consumers.”