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Civil Servants (Retirement Age)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the compulsory retirement ages which apply to employees of his Department and of executive agencies and other public sector bodies for which it is responsible, broken down by grade or job title. [7226]

Mr. Leslie: Information on the normal retirement age and on compulsory early retirement or severance for my Department and for the executive agencies and public sector bodies for which it is responsible is as follows:

The normal age of retirement for staff in all grades below the Senior Civil Service is 60 years. This is also the minimum age at which there can be retirement with full superannuation benefits. Retention beyond age 60 is possible subject to departmental needs and the continued health and efficiency of the individual member of staff.

Staff in the most junior grades who satisfy these criteria may continue in service until they reach the age of 65 years. Others who have not completed 20 years' reckonable service at age 60 may continue in post until they reach the age of 65 or complete 20 years' service, whichever occurs first.

Service beyond these limits to a maximum of 70 years is possible at management discretion. The Cabinet Office does not retain permanent employees beyond age 70 although it may be willing to consider a case in exceptional circumstances to meet an essential departmental need.

The Senior Civil Service has a common compulsory retirement age of 60 years in all departments. Retention beyond this age may be allowed if in the public interest and subject to departmental needs and the continued health and efficiency of an individual.

Government Office regional staff continue as members of their parent Departments and as such remain subject to their retirement policies in respect of age, compulsory early retirement or severance.

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Retirement policies in the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Government Car and Despatch Agency and the Central Office of Information closely follow the Cabinet Office model, with analogous discretions allowing for extensions of service.

As a pre-redundancy measure volunteers may be offered retirement on compulsory terms to avoid compulsory redundancy procedures. Staff may also be retired on compulsory early retirement or severance terms on grounds of structure, and on compulsory early retirement terms on grounds of limited efficiency. Early retirement applies to staff aged 50 or over; early severance applies to staff aged under 50.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Magistrates (Essex)

Bob Russell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many people applied to be magistrates in the north Essex area in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [6331]

Mr. Wills: Figures are not available for the north Essex area on its own. However, for Essex as a whole the figures are: 1998–99—160 applicants; 1999–2000—225 applicants; 2000–01—154 applicants.

Departmental Properties

Pete Wishart: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will estimate the total running costs for buildings used, owned or rented by his Department for each nation and region of the UK, and estimate the average cost per square metre for properties used by his Department as a whole, and by region and nation of the UK. [6795]

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Mr. Wills: Buildings used, owned or rented by the Department fall into two categories: those managed by the Court Service and those managed centrally by the Department. The Court Service manages the estate of all of the Crown Courts, county courts, the Supreme Court estate and probate estate, the Tribunal buildings and also regional administration buildings. Magistrates' courthouses are owned or leased by the local paying authority on behalf of Magistrates Courts Committees.

The running costs and average costs per square metre of Court Service buildings by nation are contained in Table 1 and the running costs and average costs per square metre by region are contained in Table 2.

Properties managed centrally by the Department include central administration buildings and associated offices. The running costs and average costs per square metre of these buildings by nation are contained in Table 3 and the running costs and average costs per square metre by region are contained in Table 4.

The estimate of the average cost per square metre for properties used by the Lord Chancellor's Department is contained in Table 5.

Table 1: Running cost of Court Service buildings by nation

£
NationCash ExpenditureCost per sq. metre
England198,795,765.55267.59
Wales7,817,644.14171.77
Scotland108,103.36222.49
Northern Ireland0.000.00

Table 2: Running cost of Court Service buildings by region

£
Cash ExpenditureCost per sq. metre
English region
East Midlands8,734,161.88257.14
Eastern13,749,700.07249.58
Greater London76,764,257.36331.10
North East6,817,304.27195.10
North West24,874,647.12224.66
South East22,638,385.67249.06
South West14,255,109.91256.66
West Midlands15,516,402.06251.32
Yorkshire and Humberside15,445,887.21226.55
Devolved nations
Wales7,817,644.14171.77
Scotland108,103.36222.49
Northern Ireland0.000.00

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Table 3: Running costs for LCD by nation

£
NationCash ExpenditureCost per sq. metre
England16,834,052.00372.81
Wales0.000.00
Scotland0.000.00
Northern Ireland0.000.00

Table 4: Running costs for LCD by region

£
Cash ExpenditureCost per sq. metre
English region
East Midlands0.000.00
Eastern0.000.00
Greater London16,550,947.51380.70
North East64,060.00163.59
North West114,958.78291.11
South East0.000.00
South West104,085.28131.66
West Midlands0.000.00
Yorkshire and Humberside0.000.00

Table 5: Average running cost of the Lord Chancellor's Department per square metre

£ per sq. metre
Whole estate240.00

Mrs. May: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will list the number, value and location of properties newly leased in each of the last five years by her Department, broken down by those leased by the Department itself, its next steps agencies and its non-departmental public bodies, differentiating between purchases made as a result of the creation of new bodies and those purchases made by established bodies. [7819]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department has leased 34 additional locations over the past five years for various parts of the organisation and for varying lease terms. Five of the locations are occupied by the Department or its associated offices (the Legal Services Ombudsman's Office); 24 for its executive agencies (The Court Service and the Public Guardianship Office) and five for its NDPBs (CAFCASS and the Public Defender Service Offices). The creation of CAFCASS and the Public Defender Service offices prompted the acquisition of new properties; expansion of the organisation and/or rationalisation of the departmental estate drove the remaining acquisitions. Full details of the acquisitions are set out in the schedule.

Lord Chancellor's Department property acquisitions 1997–2001

Property Location Occupier DemiseAnnual rent (£) Lease commenced
Department and associated offices
SouthsideLondonLCD3rd Floor (front)454,850July 1999
SouthsideLondonLCD3rd Floor (rear)302,400April 2000
30 MillbankLondonLCD5th Floor195,160February 2001
Tower HouseBristolLCDPart 13th Floor22,889May 2001
Sunlight HouseManchesterLCD(64)Suite 303101,007August 2001
Executive agencies
Lincoln Group Manager's OfficeLincolnCourt Service6,250February 1997
Taylor HouseLondonCourt Service(65)775,000July 1997
Oldham County CourtOldhamCourt Service198,144September 1997
LondonCourt Service (OSSCSC)145,732.50November 1998
Bangor Probate RegistryBangorCourt Service3,750January 1998
Sheffield Group Manager's OfficeSheffieldCourt Service46,500January 1999
First Avenue HouseLondonCourt Service(66)2,332,000April 1999
Nottingham Group Manager's OfficeNottinghamCourt Service30,160June 1999
Exeter Group Manager's OfficeExeterCourt Service239,750November 1999
Cambridge County CourtCambridgeCourt Service171,000November 1999
Uxbridge County CourtUxbridgeCourt Service162,000December 1999
Newcastle Group Manager's OfficeNewcastleCourt Service37,940January 2000
Brighton Family CentreBrightonCourt Service176,000March 2000
FarringdonCourt Service (IAA)190,320March 2000
HounslowCourt Service (IAA)100,035March 2000
Ashford County CourtAshfordCourt Service25,875June 2000
BromleyCourt Service (IAA)3,000July 2000
HounslowCourt Service (IAA)125,440August 2000
GlasgowCourt Service (IAA)206,624September 2000
Haverfordwest County CourtHaverfordwestCourt Service32,095October 2000(67)
Manchester Combined TribunalsManchesterCourt Service56,550.50March 2001
Shrewsbury County CourtShrewsburyCourt Service47,000June 2001
Breams BuildingsLondonCourt Service (IAA)1,961,224July 2001
Archway Tower(68)LondonPublic Guardianship Office884,000April 2001
Non-departmental public bodies
Palace StreetLondonCAFCASS6th Floor57,720April 2001(69)
John Street NorthLiverpoolPublic Defenders Service (PDS)(70)30,000January 2001
Albert RoadMiddlesbroughPDS(71)36,425February 2001
Orchard StreetSwanseaPDS(72)23,500March 2001
Priory HouseBirminghamPDS12,000April 2001

(64) Office of Legal Services Ombudsman

(65) Immigration Appellate Authority—IAA

(66) Principle Registry of the Family Division

(67) Minor occupier in other Government building

(68) This lease was new to the Department but not new to Government

(69) For six months as a sublease from MAFF

(70) Rent free for six months

(71) Rent free for nine months

(72) Rent free for two years


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