People, Capability and Change
3rd Floor
12 Princes Parade
Princes Dock
Liverpool
L3 1DE / Tel 0303 444 8111
Web
3rdSeptember 2012
Scott Whitman/ Our Ref:F0006034
DearScott,
Freedom of information request for details of the non-standard pay increases or bonuses to Senior Civil Servants in the Department for Communities and Local Government
I am writing in response to your emailof 30July2012 requesting information on non-standard pay increases and bonuses paid to Senior Civil Servants inthe Department for Communities and Local Government in the last three financial years.
Your request was received by the Department for Communities and Local Government on 31July 2012 and has been considered under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI Act).
Your request in full was:
“Please list any increases in pay or bonuses paid to any Senior Civil Servants actioned outside the normal pay round in the last three financial years ending in 31 March 2012 (plus any payments/increases made since that date).
I would like to know the cash and percentage increase applied to salary, and the reason for payment/increase.”
I can confirm that the Department for Communities and Local Government holds the information that you have requested. I will answer each of your individual questions in turn.
Clarification of request
You will recall I wrote to you requesting further clarification on your request, and asked whether you wanted to exclude pay increases and / or bonuses paid as a result of the normal Senior Civil Service (SCS) performance management processes.
Your reply in full was as follows:
“I am less interested in pay increases as a result of promotions. I am more interested in getting information about whether any departments have come to individual arrangements with senior staff outside of the main pay round that result in any extra money being received by senior staff including bonuses or increases in thier [sic] salary.”
Following the above clarification, we have excluded any pay increases and / or bonuses paid as a result of the normal SCS performance management processes.
We have also excluded pay increases as a result of standard HR processes where staff are entitled to a pay increase, including for example, staff being promoted either to or within SCS grades, and increases as a result of staff returning from secondments or loans out of the Department, or career breaks, where they were entitled to an increase in salary.
List of increases in pay to Senior Civil Servants outside the normal pay round
The following pay increasewas paid to SCS staff outside the normal processes in the last three financial years as recorded on our HR system.
The Permanent Secretary, Sir Bob Kerslake, received an increase in salary on his appointment as Head of the UK Civil Service in January 2012, in addition to his existing role as Permanent Secretary for the Department. The Department is not obliged, by virtue of the exemption at section 21 of the FOI Act, to provide you with the information as it is a matter of public record[1]and is therefore accessible to you by other means; the information can be found in the Remuneration Report section of the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2012[2].
List of bonuses paid to Senior Civil Servants outside the normal pay round
Further to our duty to assist under the FOI Act, youmay wish to note that the Department for Communities and Local Government is committed to the transparency of information on bonus payments,and under the transparency agenda, publishes data on performance bonuses by performance year rather than financial year.
The 2010-11 performance year data was published in October 2011 and can be found at the following internet link:
You will wish to note that the Department will publish data for the 2011-12 performance year later this year.
Details of the reasons for bonuses being paid are not kept on our HR system but are kept on individual personal files, therefore to disclose the information held by the Department it would be necessary to acquire and search all personal files for every member of the SCS who has received a bonus in the last three financial years, including those who have since left the Department, requiring requesting their files from our storage facilities where they left the Civil Service, or other government departments where they transferred elsewhere.
We have calculated the estimated cost of doing the above to be at least £1,000, at the appropriate rate of £25 per hour which is stated in FOI fees regulations. This would exceed the appropriate limit of £600 above which, by virtue of Section 12 of the FOI Act, the Department is not obliged to comply with a request for information.
However, further to our duty to assist, the HR function is not aware of any bonuses that have been paid to SCS staff outside of the normal performance management processes in the last three years.
Further information
The Department for Communities and Local Government as an organisation aims to be as helpful as possible in the way it deals with requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If, however, you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been handled or the outcome, you may request an internal review within two calendar months of the date of this letter. Information about the Department's review procedures and how to apply for an internal review of your case is contained on the Department's website at This also explains your right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision in the event that you remain dissatisfied following the Department’s review.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted this Department’s Internal Review procedure. The Information Commissioner‘s address and contact details are set out in the above leaflet.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Rimmer
[1] The Civil Service press release can be found here:
[2] The Department’s Annual Report and Account 2012 can be found here:
You may also be interested in viewing the Cabinet Office’s Annual Report and Accounts 2012 which can be found here: