Annual Report & Accounts 2017/18

131 NI Water Annual Report and Accounts 2017/18 Statutory Accounts E1 Personnel numbers and expenses continued The gender of persons employed by the Company (including Directors) during the year ended 31 December 2017, analysed by category, was as follows*: Company No. of employees Year to 31 December 2017 No. of employees Year to 31 December 2016 Male Female Total Male Female Total Directors and senior managers 52 16 68 53 15 68 Non-industrial staff 511 236 747 496 228 724 Industrial staff 465 2 467 468 2 470 Total staff 1,028 254 1,282 1,017 245 1,262 *Based on statutory returns made to the Equality Commission on a calendar year basis. The aggregate payroll costs for the Group of these persons were as follows: Group Year to 31 March 2018 £000 Year to 31 March 2017 £000 Wages and salaries 43,074 41,078 Social security costs 4,542 4,409 Other pension costs 16,249 12,263 Total payroll costs 63,865 57,750 An amount of £11,949k (2017: £10,747k) of the above payroll costs has been capitalised as it relates to work carried out by the Group that adds to the value of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets. E1a Key management personnel short term employee benefit Detailed information concerning key management personnel’s remuneration, bonus payments and pensions is included in the Directors’ remuneration report on pages 82 to 86. Key management includes all Board and Executive Committee members. Apart from NI Water Limited, the directors of the Companies in the Group did not receive any emoluments for their services from the date of acquisition. In summary, key management personnel compensation comprised: Year to 31 March 2018 £000 Year to 31 March 2017 £000 Short term employee benefits 862 815 Post-employment benefits 179 168 Total benefits 1,041 983 The emoluments of the highest paid Director were £153k (2017: £151k). There are amounts included in the SOCI in respect of actuarial gains and losses attributable to key management personnel, however, it is considered impractical to provide a breakdown of the actuarial gains/ losses relating to individual members. While some elements resulting in gains/losses are easy to measure on an individual basis e.g. the effect of salary increases, others would involve allocating a share in investment returns and other scheme experience (deaths/retirements) which cannot be attributed to individual members. E1b Exit packages The exit packages for employees who left the Company during the year are reported below. The majority of the exit packages relate to the Voluntary Exit schemes which were used to facilitate the targeted reduction in headcount. The Voluntary Exit schemes are similar to the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) scheme and incorporate the provisions of relevant age discrimination legislation. All applications are considered in terms of overall cost and business need. Overall cost in individual cases is based on length of service and pensionable pay figures. Ill-health retirement costs are met by the pension scheme and are not included in the exit packages.