§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will issue guidelines on the use of added years for purposes of early retirement for local authority employees. [26424]
§ Mr. RaynsfordI have no plans to do so. Decisions about early retirement for local authority employees are the responsibility of locally elected councillors. It is for them to establish their own policies and decide, within the appropriate regulations, whether or not to award added years in each particular case. However, my Department will be reviewing several aspects of the early retirement compensation arrangements, taking into consideration the Audit Commission's recent report on early retirement in local government.