§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the number of civil servants receiving merit payments in 1986–87.
§ Mr. BrookeA total of 3,828 civil servants received merit payments in the financial year 1986–87 under the performance bonus experiment.
This scheme was introduced for grades 3–7 in 1985 as a three-year experiment. It has already been partly replaced by newly developed performance related pay arrangements for grades 2 and 3 and an interim scheme for grades 4–7.
We believe that the link between pay and performance in the Civil Service should be strengthened. When the flexible pay system for scientific, professional and technical grades comes into effect this year over 80,000 staff will be covered by performance-related pay arrangements. We hope that it will be possible to bring other groups into such schemes in due course.