§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prison officers in post on or before 30 September 1987 took early retirement on 24 March 1995 in accordance with Scottish Prison Service staff circular no. 58/94; and under what rules and on what basis retirement benefits provided by the compensation schemes were calculated, awarded and put into payment to the prison officers when they retired under the terms of the circular. [1614]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe subject of the question relates to matters undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell, to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Mr. Alex Salmond, dated 6 November 1996:
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your question about the number of prison officers who took early retirement in March 1995, and under what rules.The early retirement scheme was introduced to assist the restructuring of the Scottish Prison Service which required the generation of vacancies at all grades over the following few years. The Scheme was announced to the field under Staff Circular No. 58/94 and applications were sought from staff who would be aged 50 or over at 1 January 1995, but who had not reached their minimum retirement age.The number of prison officers in post on or before 30 September 1987 who took early retirement on 24 March 1995 was 142. The compulsory early retirement benefits which accompanied these exits were awarded and paid under the Rules of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.