To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid in end-of-year performance bonuses to (a) all staff and (b) staff at senior civil service level in (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies in the 2007-08 financial year; and how many payments were made. (207473)

Staff below the senior civil service do not receive end-of-year bonuses. The amount and number of end-of-year bonuses paid to staff in the senior civil service in the Department and its agencies in 2007-08 are provided in the following table.

Pay arrangements for senior civil servants are common across all Departments and agencies, although they have flexibility on the specific values of bonuses within a common framework. Bonuses are based on the extent to which objectives are met, how they are met and how stretching they are.