§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will publish a table showing (a) the salary costs and (b) the pension costs of civil servants in 1960, 1970, 1975 and the latest year for which the figures are available, at current and constant prices, using the retail price index to obtain the latter figures, and distinguishing between the main Government Departments.
§ Mr. ChannonThe tables below set out the total expenditure in current and constant prices on Civil Service pay and pensions for the years in question. No breakdown of expenditure on pensions by Department is available. It is not possible to give comparable figures for expenditure on pay by the main departments in these years because of changes in departmental organisation.
Financial year Current prices £million 1978–79 prices (a) PAY 1960–61 * * 1970–71 … 1,212 3,269 1975–76 … 2,573 3,631 1978–79 … 3,131 3,131 (b) PENSIONS 1960–61 67† 273† 1970–71 … 92 250 1975–76 … 295 417 1978–79 … 495 495 * These figures are not available centrally. † These figures include the Post Office and are not, therefore, directly comparable with those for later years. The reasons for the increase in pension costs at constant prices are an increase from 199,000 in 1960–61 to 339,000 in 1978–79 in the number of civil service pensioners, the decreasing proportion of 258W pensions based on the lower pay rates of earlier decades, a substantial increase in the average length of service in pensionable employment and some improvements in scheme benefits, particularly widows' pensions.