§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 4 May,Official Report, column 264, if he will provide comparable details on civil service early retirement packages on grounds of inefficiency. [29284]
§ Mr. Nelson[holding answer 19 June 1995]: Inefficiency is a ground for dismissal. An immediate lump-sum payment of up to two years' salary may be made where a department judges payment of compensation to be appropriate. Where compensation is agreed and the person dismissed is over 55, this may be forgone in favour of immediate payment of the accrued superannuation benefits which would otherwise be preserved for payment at retiring age. There have been 15 departures from the Treasury on inefficiency grounds in the past five financial years, 11 of which were during probation. No compensation was paid in any of these cases.