Parliamentary Written Answer (Correction)
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
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The Solicitor-General (Oliver Heald)
I regret to inform the House that a written answer I gave on 10 January 2013, Official Report, column 415-16W, to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr Weir) was incorrect. The hon. Member asked the Attorney-General how many civil service posts have been made redundant by the Law Officers’ Departments in each year since 1999; and what has been the cost of redundancies in each such year.
The data concerning the Crown Prosecution Service were incorrect and reported that no posts had been made redundant. This was due to a database recording error which has now been identified and corrected. In fact the Crown Prosecution Service did make a small number of senior posts redundant and an additional table showing the missing data is included in the revised answer below. All other information provided in the original response was correct. The revised answer is as follows.
During the period 1999 to 2012 there were five redundancies declared and made in Attorney-General’s Office, Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, and the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol), at a total cost of £185,788.90. No breakdown by year is given so as to preserve confidentiality.
In addition the Government Property Lawyers office in Taunton was closed in 1999 and a number of people would have been transferred elsewhere, accepted voluntary exits or made redundant. TSol does not hold information on numbers of staff declared and subsequently made redundant or the costs of such an exercise.
The following table shows the number and cost of paid early exits from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in each year since April 2005, including redundancy and early retirements. Data prior to that date are no longer held and details about cost are not held prior to 2008. The cost of exits is not given where the number of exits is fewer than five, in order to protect the personal data of the individuals concerned.
Under the old Civil Service Compensation Scheme, which was replaced in 2011, most individuals under 50 received what were known as early severance terms, while those over 50 took early retirement.
Number of early exits | Cost (£ million) | |
|---|---|---|
2005-06 | 1 | 1— |
2006-07 | 2 | 1— |
2007-08 | 2 | 1— |
2008-09 | 16 | 3.389 |
2009-10 | 3 | 2— |
2010-11 | 1 | 2— |
2011-12 | 1 | 2— |
1Not held. 2Fewer than five exits. |
The table shows the year in which exits took place and payments were made rather than where any accruals have been made. Therefore the information is not directly comparable with what is published in the SFO’s annual accounts. It does however include the provision in the accounts to meet ongoing liabilities generated by the agreements. Under the old Civil Service Compensation Scheme, individuals taking early retirement had their pensions paid by their employer until they reached the normal retirement age. This could include a pension made up of up to six and two thirds years for staff over 50. Details of these associated costs are published in the SFO’s annual accounts.
During the period 1999 to 2012 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) made five posts redundant at a total cost of £994,849. These were all senior posts and were part of a programme to reduce headcount in the CPS. The breakdown by year is as follows:
Number of Redundant Posts | Cost | |
|---|---|---|
2009 | 3 | £707,436 |
2010 | 2 | £287,413 |
2011 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 5 | £994,849 |
During this period the CPS reduced staff headcount from 8,940 at 31 December 2009 to 7,442 at 31 December 2012. This was primarily achieved through applying robust recruitment controls for vacancies that arise through normal attrition, and in utilising the civil service provision for voluntary early release (VER). The following table shows the number of staff released under VER during this period and the cost.
Number of early exits | Cost (£ million) | |
|---|---|---|
2009-10 | 158 | 9.315 |
2010-11 | 126 | 8.740 |
2011-12 | 469 | 20.711 |
2012-131 | 233 | 11.830 |
12012-13 numbers and cost as of 2 January 2013 are provisional. |