I propose to take Questions Nos. 3, 19 and 54 together.
Eligibility for the early retirement scheme was initially confined to persons working in areas where developments had made particular groups of staff surplus to the needs of the public service but was subsequently extended to the over-50s in most areas of the public service. Within these broad parameters it is a matter for local management in the first instance to determine how widely the terms of the scheme will be offered in particular organisations and the criteria to be applied in deciding whether or not to accept applications.
The approach adopted in any particular area of the public service will depend on the circumstances of that area including the financial allocation within which they must operate and whether they have staff surplus to requirements. In the case of the Civil Service for which I have direct responsibility, the terms of the scheme allow local management to refuse applications from persons serving in key positions in their organisations. In order to do so, however, they require the express approval of my Department.
In considering proposals to refuse applications, the Department of Finance has regard to the following considerations:
(1) Whether the grant of the application would reduce the strength of the cadre concerned to a non-viable level.
(2) Whether direct net Exchequer receipts would be put in jeopardy by the grant of the application.
(3) Whether public safety would be put at risk, or genuine hardship caused, by the grant of the application.
(4) Whether an applicant in a situation where one of the above criteria applies has specialist or technical qualifications and/or experience for which it is not feasible to compensate by redeployment.
My Department are under instructions to facilitate applicants wherever possible. In pursuit of this policy, Departments wishing to refuse applications have, in many instances, been advised by my Department to defer doing so pending efforts to secure a replacement.
Information on the numbers and categories of applications received in the public service is not available in my Department. In relation to the number of people who have accepted the voluntary redundancy and early retirement terms, I am circulating a tabular statement showing the number of employees who have left under the scheme in 1987 and in 1988 to date, by sector, and the average costs involved for 1987. Briefly, 1,135 employees left the public service — including local authorities — in 1987 at an average total severance cost of £10,182. Figures are not yet available on average annual pension entitlements for all of the sectors involved. A further 1,611 employees have left in 1988 to date. As I indicated in my Budget Statement last month, the redundancy terms will continue to be available during 1988.
Following is the statement:
Public Service Redundancies in 1987 and in 1988 to date.
Sector
|
Number who left in 1987
|
Average retirement lump sum
|
Average redundancy payment
|
Average severance gratuity
|
Average short service gratuity
|
Average total cost
|
Average annual pension
|
Number who have left in 1988 to date
|
|
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
|
Non-Industrial Civil Service
|
40
|
14,919
|
242
|
895
|
97
|
16,152
|
5,384
|
263
|
Industrial Civil Service
|
45
|
3,266
|
2,154
|
1,185
|
488
|
7,093
|
n.a.
|
55
|
Health Agencies & Local Authorities
|
888
|
5,693
|
534
|
1,437
|
1,341
|
9,005
|
n.a.
|
936
|
Non-Commercial State Bodies
|
162
|
14,392
|
325
|
808
|
499
|
16,024
|
4,500
|
357
|
Total
|
1,135
|
7,163
|
558
|
1,318
|
1,143
|
10,182
|
n.a.
|
1,611
|
Note: The 1987 data record average payments made in respect of officers accepting voluntary redundancy in 1987 in each of these sectors. Not all of these payments, which are made in the first instance by the employing organisations, would have been recouped from the Vote for Public Service Early Retirement Payments in 1987.