Financial Assistance Scheme: Pay

Mr. Philip Hammond
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in bonuses to staff of the Financial Assistance Scheme in each of the last two years; and how many individual payments were made.

James Purnell
The Department operates a number of different bonus and awards schemes, two of which apply to staff at the Financial Assistance Scheme.

Based on the information available, the total sum of bonuses paid to staff of the Financial Assistance Scheme in each of the last two years is as provided in the following tables. The bonuses are all subject to tax at standard individual rates. (Figures quoted as gross values).

The Bonus and Rewards Scheme allows managers to incentivise and reward valuable or exceptional contributions to business performance made by employees or teams:

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|Bonus type/Date              |Total amount paid out (gross) (£)|Number of staff receiving payments|
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|Bonus and Rewards Scheme—2006|3,450                            |24                                |
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|Bonus and Rewards Scheme—2007|3,650                            |25                                |
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Annual individual performance bonuses are paid to members of staff as part of the annual pay award. Individuals who achieve one of the top 3 (of 4) performance ratings under the department’s Performance and Development System are eligible for these unconsolidated bonuses, which are paid on a sliding scale:

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|Bonus type/Date                           |Total amount paid out (gross) (£)|Number of staff receiving payments|
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|Annual Individual Performance Bonuses—2006|19,772                           |66                                |
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The Individual Performance Bonus for staff during the last financial year has not yet been finalised so we are currently unable to confirm any amounts for this period.