The Ministry of Justice was created on 9 May 2007 bringing together the former Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and parts of the Home Office, namely the National Offender Management Service, including the prison and probation services and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
The figures in the following table show the number of staff taking early retirement for the former Department for Constitutional Affairs for the period mentioned, and for the first complete year of the new Ministry of Justice.
Staff taking early retirement has been taken to mean those staff retiring before their minimum retirement age. The minimum retirement age, of any member of the Ministry of Justice and associated agencies, is the earliest age at which anyone to whom the Pension Choices Scheme applies can retire with superannuation benefits. This is currently age 60 for most grades, or 55 for staff who have an entitlement to reserved rights under the 1987 ‘Fresh Start’ arrangements.
Information on the age of staff retiring has been derived from the Ministry’s HR Chrimson, HM Prison Service personnel corporate database and Oracle HR management systems. All of these systems are liable to the normal inaccuracies associated with any large reporting system.
April to May 2006-07 2007-08 Total Ministry of Justice n/a 87 87 The former Department for Constitutional Affairs 32 n/a 32 Her Majesty’s Court Service 460 533 993 Public Guardianship Office 4 4 8 The Tribunal Service 35 50 85 Wales Office 2 2 4 Her Majesty’s Prison Service n/a 174 174