- Civil servants shouldn’t be getting them as rest of Britain struggles, critics said today
- Treasury mandarins grabbed £970,064 in bonuses in the 12 months to April this year
- ‘We need performance-payments to keep staff,’ Treasury tells MailOnline
By
Martin Robinson
03:47 EST, 31 July 2012
|
03:56 EST, 31 July 2012
Costs: Staff at George Osborne’s Treasury received almost £1million in bonuses last year
Mandarins at George Osborne’s Treasury pocketed £1 million in bonuses in the last year despite Britain crashing into its deepest double-dip recession for 50 years.
The Coalition had pledged to clamp down on performance-related payments in Whitehall, but the Chancellor’s department handed out almost the same amount as the year before, it was revealed today.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show Treasury civil servants grabbed £970,064 in bonuses in the 12 months to April this year.
A year earlier they received a total of £1,032,239, only around £60,000 more in total.
Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude wrote to all Government departments earlier this year asking them to examine their bonus structures.
It came after it was revealed around £2 million a month of taxpayers’ money went on performance-payments for Government workers.
‘It is about making sure that performance pay is there for genuine excellence and not just run-of-the-mill performance,’ Mr Alexander said.
But it appears that the message is yet to get through.
Labour MP John Mann said the Treasury payouts were ‘rewards for failure’ as the British economy continues to struggle, with some Treasury policies being blamed.
‘It sets a bad example to everybody else when you are rewarding failure in the Treasury,’ he told the Mirror.
Needed: Treasury workers, pictured leaving its HQ in Westminster, are paid bonuses to encourage them to stay
‘They should be the last people to be getting a bonus. It is one rule for George Osborne’s top officials who he is giving bonuses to and it is another rule for hard-pressed families across the country who he is taking money away from.’
Today the Government defended the bonuses.
A spokesman for the Treasury told MailOnline they were cutting costs but needed to offer performance-payments to keep staff.
‘Bonuses in the Treasury last year were half that paid in 2008-09, with only a quarter of staff receiving performance-related pay. Both the Permanent Secretary and the Second Permanent Secretary waived their rights to a bonus again in 2011-12,’ she said.
Although 2011/12 data for other departments is yet to be released, figures from 2010/11 show in total £22.8million was handed out to civil servants in bonuses.
At the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the bonus bill went up 21 per cent between 2009/10 and 2010/11, while the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s bill rose by 12 per cent.
The Department for Education shelled out £1.9million in both 2009/10 and 2010/11, but the proportion of the pay bill which went towards bonuses increased between the two years.
The Scotland Office also saw its bill increase – up to £3,670.
The astonishing payments during the Coalition’s first year, help explain why ministers have demanded a review of public sector bonuses.
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Whenever i see george osbourne i think now theres a man that deserves a damn good thrashing.
– Paolo, london, 31/7/2012 16:17
He’d love it and ask for more. Still you would save on his expenses.
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Is it any wonder that Britain is rapidly heading toward Banana Republic status.
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A treasury spokesman said we need performance payments to keep staff. Why?There imput so far has meant the recession has got worse so let them go as they are the wrong staff.
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How can the bloated public sector get paid bonuses, they are paid more, have better working conditions, work less hours, have enormous subsidised pensions than the private sector. Yet dont have to make anything, sell anything, make a profit or keep the customer satisfied, if you could elswhere, you would not use you local council they would be out of business.
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“‘We need performance-payments to keep staff,’ ” – The point is they are not performing you muppet!
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As no politician got the decency to stop this ludicrous waste of taxpayers money it just shows that they agree with a system that rewards failure but after saying that their bound to they leave the country in a mess and still keep their seats and wealthy unearnt lifestyles.
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Bottom line. Just stop paying Civil Servants bonuses. They are well salaried and deserve no more of our money.
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The ‘bonus’ system was implemented as part of a pay deal years ago. CS should have had the same pay rise as everyone else but if they did it would have been pensionable. So the ‘bonus’ scheme was forced upon them – none of them wanted it. It was a money saving measure for theTreasury as it doesn’t count as part of their annual income. I write this every year in DM comments and STILL the DM brings up this old chestnut relating about a quarter of the true facts. Give us a break!
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You are paid a salary to do a job to the best of your ability. Bonuses should not be necessary. That applies at all levels, bankers included.
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Whenever i see george osbourne i think now theres a man that deserves a damn good thrashing.
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