HC Deb 30 January 1995 vol 253 c677
28. Mr. Corbyn

To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what representations he has received on the viability of the pension fund.

Mr. Michael Alison (Second Church Estates Commissioner, representing the Church Commissioners)

Clergy pensions are currently funded from the Church Commissioners' investment income rather than from a separate pension fund. Following actuarial advice, a number of options for the future funding of pensions are being discussed with the dioceses. They focus on the collection of pension contributions for future service.

Mr. Corbyn

When does the right hon. Gentleman expect a statement to be made on the future funding of the pension fund, following the representations that he has received? What action is being taken concerning the serious losses incurred by the Church Commissioners pension fund on irresponsible investments in out-of-town shopping centres in the past? Will future pensions be increased in line with average earnings or in line with inflation, or can the right hon. Gentleman give no guarantee at all as to future pension payments both to clergy and to lay employees of the Church of England?

Mr. Alison

The specific question of when a definitive statement is likely to emerge about future pension arrangements—I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will approve of this—will depend to some extent on when the Social Services Select Committee's report on the issue comes out and when the various diocesan consultations have taken place. There cannot in any case be a fundamental change without legislation, so I doubt whether any new arrangements will be in place before 1998.

As for the underlying value of the assets, the hon. Gentleman will know that it is going up steadily. Assets lay at £2.1 billion in 1992, and by the end of 1993 they had increased to £2.4 billion. The so-called loss of £800 million is already being steadily recouped by the soundness of the Church Commissioners' investment.

Future pensions will continue to be linked to clergy stipends. Clergy stipends have been linked to average earnings. That link is likely to persist.