§ Mr. Tim Rentonasked the Minister for the Civil Service what, in current value terms, were the pensions paid under the Civil Service pension scheme in 1974–75 and 1975–76; and what are his estimates in current value terms for the pensions payable in 1976–77, 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisNet expenditure on Civil Service superannuation in current value terms (i.e. at 1976–77 prices) was £228 million in 1974–75 and £288 million in 1975–76. The present 223W estimate for 1976–77 is £312 million and for 1980–81 it is £430 million. No estimates have been made of annual expenditure in years beyond 1980–81.
§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Minister for the Civil Service what would be the saving to public expenditure in 1976–77 if the index linking of public service pensions had been subject to a limit equivalent to the rise in incomes permitted by the pay policy for the year August 1976 to July 1977; and what is his estimate of tax offset on this saving.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisI regret that exact figures for all the public services are not available. However, the information for the Civil Service is as follows:
The cost of increasing Civil Service pensions on 1st December by 13.8 per cent. is estimated at £31 million for a full year. If the present pay policy, including the £2.50 minimum, were to be strictly applied to Civil Service pension increases, the cost in the same period would be £39 million. Thus there would be no saving to public funds, but an extra cost of £8 million. This is because a 13.8 per cent. increase will mean less than £2.50 for some 220,000 of the 293,000 in receipt of Civil Service pensions. It is reasonable to assume that the rest of the public services would follow a similar pattern. As there would be no saving, there would be no tax offset.