§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many employees of her Department retired through work-related ill health in the last year for which records are available; and what the cost to the Department was. [56055]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe Department for Education and Skills does not maintain records that enable ill health retirements to be separately identified as work related. For the Department for Education and Skills the number of staff retired with a medical retirement certificate issued by the civil service pension scheme medical adviser for the year 2001 was eight.
1055WBenefits provided on medical retirement are as set out in the rules of the principal civil service pension scheme and laid before Parliament, and provide for an immediate payment of enhanced pension and lump sum. Ill health retirement is met centrally from the civil superannuation vote. For the year ending March 2002, provisional expenditure met from the vote was £310 million in respect of all civil service cases for which an ill health pension has been awarded. These cases number approximately 67,000 and include those who have formerly been ill health retired but who have now reached and exceeded the normal retirement age.