§ Charles HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many officials in his Department have received early release packages in each year since 1997; what the cost of each package was; and what the average amount received is. [179002]
§ Mr. Charles Clarke[holding answer 15 June 2004]: From the 1997–98 financial year to the end of the 2003–04 financial year, the total number of early releases, the total costs, and the average cost to my Department arising from the provisions of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, were as follows:
£ Financial year Number of releases Total cost of DfES (£ million) Average cost (£000) 1997–98 101 5.145 50.94 1998–99 51 2.73 53.53 1999–2000 50 4.237 84.74 2000–01 61 4.06 66.56 2001–02 84 6.142 73.12 2002–03 57 5.57 97.72 2003–04 28 2.54 90.71 Total 432 30.424 70.43 Records are not held centrally about the amount each person received, which is not always the same as the costs to the Department, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.