Reacting to the news, negotiator Gareth Howells said: "We welcome the fact that no more bonuses will be paid to a select few. It's a good decision, and fits with the David Cameron and George Osborne line that 'we're all in this together'.

"The Welsh government has set a good example and it would be excellent if other civil service departments followed suit."

The issue of bonuses for senior civil servants hit the headlines recently after figures in the Wales Office's annual report prompted suggestions that the bonus system was being used as a means to get around the government's pay restraint.

The BBC reported that almost one fifth of the 50 or so staff at the Wales Office received a bonus last year. The average was worth £2,004 but in one instance the payment amounted to £7,500 – considerably more than the 1 per cent increase across the public sector as a whole.

Following the decision to stop the bonus payments, the Cabinet Office issued a statement saying: "It is entirely up to individual departments whether they make bonus payments or not.

"Under the rules bonuses may now only be paid to 25 per cent of the senior civil service – previously they could be paid to 65 per cent of the senior civil servants working for a department.

"Other than that we have not changed the guidance on bonus payments. If the Welsh Government has made a decision not to pay bonuses, it is absolutely entitled to do so. Other departments will do as they see fit."