Norman Lamb (Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Health; North Norfolk, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies have private health insurance provided as part of their employment package.

Maria Eagle (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Liverpool, Garston, Labour)

My Department and its agencies do not have private health insurance provided as part of their employment package. 74 officials employed in Her Majesty's Courts Service, one of the Ministry's Executive Agencies, do however retain an entitlement to private health insurance following the unification of the former DCA with the Magistrates' Courts Service on 1 April 2005, and the transfer of former Magistrates' Courts Committee (MCC) employees to the Department on TUPE terms. Of these, 53 officials currently retain an entitlement to private health insurance provided by AXA-PPP Healthcare, six retain an entitlement to annual health screening provided by Nuffield Proactive Health and 15 retain an entitlement to paid membership of a healthcare cash plan provided by Westfield Health. All these schemes were closed to new members on 1 April 2005.

The Ministry has recently offered new terms and conditions to former DCA staff, including former MCC employees. Some legacy allowances that were not part of the new deal, including private health insurance entitlements, will be reviewed with the trade unions through the collective bargaining framework by the end of the current financial year. Any changes will be applied to all affected staff.