To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years for which information is available; what proportion of his Department's workforce they represented in each year; what the total amount of bonuses paid was in each year; what the largest single payment was; and if he will make a statement. (300378)

All staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice. Staff may be eligible for non-consolidated performance payments in different ways. Firstly, through end of year performance payments under their parent bodies' performance management arrangements. The Scotland Office does not itself make the end of year awards and does not hold information centrally on end of year non-consolidated performance payments made to its secondees.

Secondly under the Special Bonus Scheme of the Scottish Executive and the Reward and Recognition Scheme of the MoJ, the Office may directly authorise non-consolidated performance payments (or in the case of the MoJ scheme, small and instantaneous awards, e.g. vouchers) in recognition of special effort, achievement and commitment. The following table shows the number and cost of non-pensionable payments made under these schemes:

The largest single payment under these schemes was £750.

Members of the senior civil service in the Scotland Office are seconded from the Scottish Executive and the Ministry of Justice, their non-consolidated performance payments are assessed under a framework set by the Cabinet Office. The Office does not hold central information on such payments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much funding his Department has allocated for (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses for its staff in 2009-10. (307025)

The salary budget of the Scotland Office for 2009-10 is £2,847,000, of which non-consolidated performance payments represent an estimated 0.01 per cent.

The non-consolidated performance payments are an integral element of the reward package for staff, have to be re-earned each year and do not add to future pay bill costs (e.g. pensions). The Scotland Office believe that performance payments help drive high performance in the office.