To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of staff in his Department and its predecessor took early retirement in the last five years, broken down by grade; and at what cost. (148741)

The information is not available in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

In the former DFES, there have been voluntary early severance and retirement releases. For the 2002-03 financial year to the end of the 2006-07 financial year, the total number and cost for such releases from the former DFES were as follows: