The answer is in the following table.
Performance bonus payments are awarded to employees on the basis of their individual performance. They are paid after the completion of the performance year. The expenditure incurred is as follows:
Financial year Total paid (£ million) Number of employees receiving bonus 2004-05 38.61 129,855 2005-06 42.82 123,285 2006-07 40.68 116,096
In addition to individual performance bonus payments, DWP also paid team bonuses to selected units within the Department. The expenditure incurred is as follows:
Table 2: Amount paid in team bonuses to DWP staff since 2002 and the numbers of staff receiving bonusesTotal paid (£ million)Total number receiving bonus2004-053.311,2502005-06Not applicableNot applicable2006-07Not applicableNot applicable Notes:1. The information in Table 1 is based on the numbers of staff recorded on the DWP payroll systems as having received a qualifying performance mark. These are a headcount.2. The performance bonus is paid in the financial year following the performance year of 1 April to 31 March.3. Some individuals may have received more than one type of bonus payment in any given year, which is why the information has been presented separately, and not as an aggregated total.4. The numbers of employees receiving a team bonus are approximations. No team bonus schemes have run since 2004-05.5. The answer to PQ/06/101034 in November 2006 provided details of bonuses paid from 2002-03 to 2006-07. Information on bonuses paid in the 2007-08 financial year is not yet available. DWP are still in pay negotiations with trade unions, and payment of the senior civil service bonus has been postponed until November 2007.
Individuals may also be entitled to special bonus payments. The cost in a typical year for these bonuses is around £3 million with payments made to approximately 17,000 individuals (based on 2005-06 payments).