HC Deb 30 January 2004 vol 417 cc569-70W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the levels of public sector pension fund deficits. [150457]

Mr. Boateng

Information is not held centrally on all the pension schemes of public sector employers, which include schemes provided by public corporations and other bodies in addition to the major schemes established by statute for public service occupations. Among the major statutory schemes those for the civil service, NHS, teachers, police, fire and armed forces are unfunded and the only major public service scheme that has funds is the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The LGPS is supported by individual funds held at local level. The last triennial valuations of these funds for England and Wales were conducted in 2001 and showed an actuarial value of aggregate assets of £85.3 billion being held against liabilities of £91.5 billion, giving a deficit of £6.2 billion. All the LGPS funds met the solvency requirements of the scheme.