§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the retirement ages that apply to the employees of her Department and its agencies, including how many and which categories of employees are affected by each; and if she will make a statement on her Department's policy on flexible retirement. [32822]
§ Mr. MorleyAs at 1 January, there were 13,990 permanent, casual and fixed-term contract staff employed by the Department and the agencies. Of these, 7,384 staff were of Executive Officer (or equivalent grade) and above. These grades normally retire at age 60. There were 6,606 staff in Administrative Officer, Administrative Assistant and Support grades. These staff are subject to a maximum retirement age of 65.
Staff may be retained beyond normal retirement age for short periods where there is a specific business need (this might, for example, be to complete a particular task or to cover the time until a replacement arrives). Flexible early retirement may be offered if the Department needs to resolve a structural problem.