§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the present financial incentives to good performance in the Civil Service; and why they are considered inadequate.
§ Mr. HayhoeIn the case of industrial civil servants, there are a number of productivity schemes which encourage good performance. But for non-industrial civil servants the main form of reward for merit in the Civil 67W Service has been the prospect of promotion to the next grade. In the vast majority of cases promotion brings a financial reward.
However, as I told the House on 5 December—columns 192 and 193—the Government believe it right to provide additional incentives to good performance. This becomes more important when numbers are falling and there are reduced opportunities for promotion. The Government are, therefore, introducing an experimental scheme of performance bonuses but, for the reasons which I gave the House on 5 December, performance-related pay cannot be introduced immediately across the whole of the Civil Service.