§ Mr. SpellarTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 7 November,Official Report, column 641, to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Dr. Jones) on Prison Service redundancies, what is the expected full cost in redundancy payments and pension commitments for around 1,300 staff who will be asked to leave under the voluntary early retirement and severance scheme. [4053]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. John Spellar, dated 25 November 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the expected costs in redundancy payments and pension commitments for staff leaving the Prison Service under the VERSE scheme.The total cost of the offers and potential offers to 1348 applicants for 1996–97 is £27,619,734. The total future costs for 1997–98 to 2006–7 is £18,589,859.These costs are split between the Office of Public Service (OPS) and the Prison Service. The OPS share for 1996–97 amounts to £19,494,730 with the Prison Service contributing £8,125,004. The costs in future years are £3,584,494 to OPS and £15,005,365 to the Prison Service.