How much does she earn?: No 4: Ros Hepplewhite, chief executive of the Child Support Agency.

Annual salary: pounds 47,927 rising by an unspecified amount if the agency meets various targets including saving pounds 530m a year in state benefits. She is the only executive in the agency to be on performance-related pay.

Perks: none; travels second class.

Age: 40.

Marital status: married at 18.

Family: one daughter, 17, one son, 15. Also two dogs, two horses, and uninvited bats, mice and foxes.

Home: Victorian Gothic pile in Sussex.

(Photograph omitted)