Mr Weir: To ask the Attorney-General (1) how many civil service posts have been made redundant by the Law Officers' Departments in each year since 1999; and what has been the cost of redundancies in each such year;

(2) how many posts have been declared redundant in the Law Officers' Departments' executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies by each such body in each year since 1999; and what has been the cost of those redundancies.

The Solicitor-General: During the period 1999 to 2012 there were five redundancies declared and made in Attorney-General's Office, Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, and the Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol), at a total cost of £185,788.90. No breakdown by year is given so as to preserve confidentiality.

In addition the Government Property Lawyers office in Taunton was closed in 1999 and a number of people would have been transferred elsewhere, accepted voluntary exits or made redundant. TSol does not hold information on numbers of staff declared and subsequently made redundant or the costs of such an exercise.

The following table shows the number and cost of paid early exits from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in each year since April 2005, including redundancy and early retirements. Data prior to that date is no longer held and details about cost are not held prior to 2008. The cost of exits is not given where the number of exits is fewer than five, in order to protect the personal data of the individuals concerned.

Under the old Civil Service Compensation Scheme, which was replaced in 2011, most individuals under 50 received what was known as early severance terms, while those over 50 took early retirement.

The following table shows the year in which exits took place and payments were made rather than where any accruals have been made. Therefore the information is not directly comparable with what is published in the SFO's annual accounts. It does however include the provision in the accounts to meet ongoing liabilities generated by the agreements. Under the old Civil Service Compensation Scheme, individuals taking early retirement had their pensions paid by their employer until they reached the normal retirement age. This could include a pension made up of up to six and two thirds years for staff over 50. Details of these associated costs are published in the SFO's annual accounts.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has not made any posts redundant since 1999. The CPS has reduced staff headcount from 8,940 at 31 December 2009 to 7,442 at 31 December 2012 through applying robust recruitment controls for vacancies that arise through normal attrition, and in utilising the civil service provision for voluntary early release (VER). The following table shows the number of staff released under VER during this period and the cost.