§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department, its agencies and associated public bodies spent in total on extra bonuses above usual payments for staff working over the new year period; what were the(a) maximum and (b) minimum bonuses paid; how many people received the (i) maximum and (ii) minimum payments; and if he will make a statement. [104489]
§ Mr. HainSome Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff were required to work over the Millennium to monitor international Millennium related development, provide consular, press and communications services and to check FCO IT and other systems worldwide.
To compensate staff for working over the period, bank holiday overtime rates payable in the United Kingdom were increased by 50 per cent. Shift disturbance allowance and on-call allowances were also enhanced. Staff in grades not normally eligible for overtime payments received a special payment of £27.50 per hour worked. About 130 staff will receive these various payments.
Staff employed in the non-departmental public bodies for which the FCO is responsible received comparable treatment.
FCO staff serving overseas do not qualify for overtime or shift allowance payments. They received no additional payments.
It is not possible to provide full cost details, since individual line managers are responsible for authorising overtime payments from their budgets and the payments are still being processed.
I should like to pay tribute to the efforts of all FCO staff to ensure that the Department's business was carried on as normal and that the coverage of developments abroad over the period went smoothly and efficiently.