Departmental Pay

Mr. Ancram
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what bonuses were paid by his Department in 2007-08; to which members of staff; and for what purposes.

Mr. Sutcliffe
The Department makes bonus payments to its staff for two purposes: (a) special bonuses to reward outstanding contributions in particularly demanding tasks or situations; and (b) performance bonuses linked to the end of year staff appraisal, which are awarded to staff who have had a highly successful performance over a whole year.

The following table shows the breakdown of the bonuses awarded:

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|                                        |Number awarded|Total amount (£)|
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|Performance Bonuses (non-SCS)           |196           |225,350         |
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|Senior Civil Service Performance Bonuses|24            |251,750         |
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|Special Bonuses                         |207           |87,000          |
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|Total                                   |427           |564,100         |
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