§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate she has made of the total value of private pension funds in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) Germany, (c) France, (d) Italy, and (e) the EU as a whole. [10844]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Government are committed to supporting and strengthening the framework for occupational pensions and to create a new framework of secure, flexible and value-for-money second-tier pensions for those who do not have the opportunity of contributing to a second pension either because they lack the resources or because they do not have access to a decent second scheme.
The available information is shown in the table. The information shown is for the most recent year available.
Estimated total value of private pension funds (£ billion) Year United Kingdom 750 1995 Germany 195 1994 France 35 1992 Italy 5 1991 European Union 1,270 — Notes:
1. The United Kingdom estimate was produced by the Government Actuary's Department on behalf of the Association of British Insurers using information from the Office for National Statistics and the Department of Trade and Industry.
2. The estimates for other EU countries are based on data from "Supplementary Pensions in the European Union" published by the European Commission and "International Benefits Information Service" bulletin, April 1996.
3. The estimates for the EU as a whole contains estimates of individual countries at different periods of time and so should be viewed solely as an indication of the likely order of magnitude.
4. All estimates are rounded to the nearest £5 billion.