§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many(a) men and (b) women employed by (1) his Department and (2) his Department's agencies have contracts of employment which permit them to retire after their 60 birthday. [53058]
§ Mr. Spellar[pursuant to his reply, 30 July 1998, c. 451–52]: I regret that the response I provided to the hon. Member's question on employees over 60 contained an inadvertent error.
My answer stated that civil servants have no formal contract of employment. Whilst this is correct for the vast majority of civil servants, following the formation of the Senior Civil Service on 1 April 1996, staff at that level have been provided with formal contracts of employment.