Dear Ms Davis

Freedom of Information Request F2008-272

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 19 November 2008. You asked for a list of all performance-related pay schemes in the public sector bodies for which DFID is responsible, with the following information for each scheme:

a) The categories of staff (i.e. job titles) to which the scheme applies

b) The approximate numbers of staff in each such category

c) The categories of staff (i.e. job titles) to which the scheme does not apply

d) The approximate numbers of staff in each such category.

DFID has two performance related pay schemes, one for Senior Civil Servants (SCS) and the other for all staff below the SCS. I will take each in turn.

Senior Civil Servants

DFID is responsible for its own SCS reward arrangements within a framework set by the Cabinet Office. There are two elements to SCS pay - base pay and variable pay (more commonly called bonus pay) - and both are performance related.

The scheme applies to all SCS staff. There are currently 97 SCS in DFID and they fall into the following categories:

The Permanent Secretary

4 Director Generals

16 Directors, and

76 Deputy Directors.

For base pay, the range of individual performance awards for SCS members is typically between 0% and 9%. To qualify for consideration for a base pay award, SCS staff must be in post at 1st April and have completed 3 months work in the reporting year.

Around 65% of SCS staff will earn a bonus. The top 25% of performers receive the highest bonus level of at least 10% of base salary and the next 40% typically receive a bonus of between 5 and 10% of their base salary. To qualify for consideration for a bonus payment, SCS staff must have completed a minimum of 6 months work in the reporting year.

All other staff

For staff below the SCS DFID operates a performance related Individual Bonus Awards Scheme (IBAS). All staff are covered by the scheme.

This category covers all Home Civil Servants and Staff Appointed in Country (ie locally engaged staff working in DFID's country offices).

The approximate numbers of staff in each category are:

Under this scheme bonus awards are equally distributed across all grades with bonus amounts fixed, irrespective of grade. 85% of staff will receive a bonus distributed as follows:

Staff must have completed 6 months work during the reporting year to qualify for consideration of an award under this scheme.

Consultants and agency staff are not eligible to be considered for an award under IBAS.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most documents supplied by DFID will have been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on HMSOnline at:

http://www.hmso.gov.uk/copyright/licences/click-use-home.htm.

Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright) information.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me quoting reference F2008-272.

If you are unhappy with the service we have provided and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to Stephen Latham, Head of Knowledge and Information Management at the address shown above or email him at [email address].

If you do make a complaint and are not content with the outcome, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted DFID's complaints procedure. You can contact the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House,

Water Lane,

Wilmslow,

Cheshire

SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

John McGinn

Openness Unit

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