Departmental Pay

David Simpson
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what total cost. 

[Official Report, 30 October 2008, Vol. 481, c. 1167-68W.]

Letter of correction from Mr. Woodward:

An error has been identified in the answer given to the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson) on 30 October 2008. The answer given was as follows:

David Simpson
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

Mr. Woodward
The Northern Ireland Office operates three bonus schemes—special bonuses (to reward particularly meritorious contributions during the year), an end of year bonus for staff below the senior civil service (SCS) (to reward performance and delivery throughout the year), and a bonus scheme for SCS staff which is an integral part of the pay arrangements in operation in all Whitehall and Northern Ireland Departments.

The answer includes a table which displays figures for Special Bonuses and End Year Bonuses. However, the Special Bonus figure did not include those distributed by the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

The correct table should have been:

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|               |Special bonuses 2007-08 (paid 2007-08)|End year bonuses 2007-08 (paid 2008-09)|
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|Number of staff|811                                   |409                                    |
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|Total (£)      |229,028                               |609,875                                |
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