§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if the Civil Service Compensation Scheme provision for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme(a) requires or (b) permits payments above the statutory minimum to members of staff being made (i) compulsorily and (ii) voluntarily redundant: and to what extent the arrangements for staff taking voluntary early severance or voluntary early retirement differ from those for staff being made voluntarily redundant. [5834]
§ Dr. HowellsThe terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme for Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme members require set benefits to be paid to staff made compulsorily or voluntarily redundant. These are usually above the statutory minimum. As explained in my 173W reply on 16 June, Official Report, columns 49–50, no members of staff have been made either voluntarily or compulsorily redundant from this Department (including the Employment Service) over the last 12 months, but a number have taken voluntary early retirement or voluntary early severance.
Where an early release has been agreed on compulsory terms, there is no difference between these arrangements and those which would apply in the case of redundancy. Where the release has been agreed on flexible terms, the main differences between these and the terms which would apply in the case of voluntary redundancy are in the length of notice required to be given or compensation payment made to those individuals concerned.