Departmental Information Officers

Mr. Jeremy Browne
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) press and (b) communications officers his Department employed in each of the last 10 years.

Mrs. McGuire
The Department for Work and Pensions was formed on 8 June 2001 from parts of the former Department of Social Security, the former Department for Education and Employment and the Employment Service. Information on costs prior to 2001 is not held centrally and could be obtained at disproportionate cost only.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not have a “communication officer” grade. The “White Book” of contacts in Government Departments and agencies contains listings for the Department and this book is updated twice yearly.

The numbers of Press Officers for full financial years (1 April to 31 March) is in the following table:

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|               |National press officers|Regional press officers|
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|2001-02        |21                     |0                      |
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|2002-03        |13                     |16                     |
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|2003-04        |20                     |20                     |
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|2004-05        |19                     |23                     |
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|2005-06        |23                     |22                     |
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|2006-07        |19                     |125                    |
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|1 Two part-time|                       |                       |
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Mr. Jeremy Browne
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department paid in bonuses to press and communication officers in each of the last 10 years; and what the (a) highest and (b) lowest such bonus was in each of those years.

Mrs. McGuire
The Department for Work and Pensions does not have a “communication officer” grade. The “White Book” of contacts in Government Departments and agencies contains listings for the Department and this book is updated twice yearly. The following table relates to press officers only.

DWP employees in pay bands below the senior civil service are eligible for an annual individual performance bonus if they attain a ‘Top’, ‘Higher’ or ‘Majority’ rating under the annual performance and development system (PDS). The amount of bonus awarded is differentiated on the basis of the employee’s pay band and the performance level achieved. However information relating to totals and individual awards could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

In addition all DWP employees are eligible to be nominated for a special bonus. The scheme enables managers to incentivise and reward valuable or exceptional contributions to business performance made by employees or teams. Amounts are not comparable from year to year or related to the number of staff involved. The following table contains information relating to press officer grades. Information on costs prior to 2004-05 is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

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|1 April-31 March|Total (£)|Highest|Lowest|
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|2004-05         |750      |250    |250   |
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|2005-06         |4,050    |100    |350   |
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|2006-07         |900      |50     |350   |
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