§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will give details of the pension payable to a Permanent Secretary and Deputy Secretary in the Civil Service after the completion of 10 years, 15 years, 30 years, and 40 years' service; what contributions will have been paid ; and how these compare with Members of Parliament and their pension entitlements on the same basis.
§ Mr. Charles R. Morris:The Civil Service pension scheme provides for a pension at the rate of 1/80th of salary in the final 12 months of service for each year of reckonable service, and a lump sum of three times that amount. A contribution
Member of Parliament Permanent Secretary Deputy Secretary Years of Service Pension Lump sum Pension Lump sum Pension Lump sum £ £ £ £ £ £ 10 … … … 964.62 — 2,150.85 6,452.54 1,478.97 4,436.92 15 … … … 1,446.93 — 3,226.27 9,678.81 2,218.46 6,655.38 20 … … … 1,929.24 — 4,301.70 12,905.08 2,957.94 8,873.82 30 … … … 2,893.86 — 6,452.54 19,357.63 4,436.92 13,310.75 40 … … … 3,858.48 — 8,603.40 25,810.20 5,915.89 17,747.67
§ Mr. Hordernasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether there is any part of the public service, apart from Members of Parliament, who retired before October 1964, which does not pay its retired officers a pension as of right; and if he will make a statement.
444Wof 1½ per cent. of salary is payable in respect of widow's pension. No contribution is payable in respect of personal pension, but this is taken into account in determining pay. In particular, the Sixth Report of the Review Body on Top Salaries (Cmnd 5846) makes it clear that the superannuation position was taken into account in its recommendations on pay for the higher grades of the Civil Service.
The Members' Scheme introduced in 1964 and improved in 1972 covers service from October 1964 and allows up to a maximum of 10 years' previous service to reckon free of contribution. Contributions were at the rate of £150 a year from October 1964 until January 1972 when a 5 per cent. of salary contribution rate was introduced. This contribution covers both widow's pension, and personal pension at the rate of 1/60th of the salary in the final 12 months of service for each year of reckonable service. Members currently retiring will, as a maximum, have little more than 20 years' pensionable service. In order to give a comparison with the rates of pension after 30 years' and 40 years' service when the Members' Scheme is fully operational the figures in the following table giving benefits on the basis of retirement on 28th February 1975 are notional in respect of service after 20 years. Pension arrangements for Members of Parliament are within the remit of the current review of Members' remuneration being undertaken by the Top Salaries Review Body.
§ Mr. Charles R. Morris:Before the general review of public service superannuation arrangements in 1972 civil public service pensions were paid as of right except for the Civil Service where payment was discretionary. In all cases, 445W however, payment depended upon satisfying certain qualifying conditions. Those conditions included a requirement for a minimum of 10 years' pensionable service and attainment of the relevant retirement age, except that in the case of a civil servant leaving after age 50 the benefits could be preserved. For very many years prior to 1972 some 500,000 public service posts were filled by non-pensionable staff mainly in local government and Civil Service employment. In 1964 and in previous years many such staff reached the retiring age and left without a pension.