§ Mr. George Gardinerasked the Minister for the Civil Service how many civil servants have been re-engaged for full-time service upon reaching retirement age, during the financial year 1979–80 and to date in the current financial year; and whether upon re-engagement they receive their pension in addition to salary.
§ Mr. ChannonPensions are abated in whole or in part so that, at the time of re-employment, pay and pensions together do not exceed the salary being paid at the time of retirement. On 30 September 1979, 25,325 Civil Service pensioners were re-employed full-time or-part-time in the Civil Service. The comparable figure for 30 September 1980 was 28,100. I estimate the savings in public expenditure in 1980–81 from this practice to be of the order of at least £35 million.