§ Lord ORR-EWINGasked Her Majesty's Government:
What a 15 per cent. pension increase would cost per annum: (a) in respect of civil servants, and, (b) in respect of the public sector generally, including ex-civil servants.
§ Lord PEARTA 15 per cent. increase in pensions paid to retired civil servants and to their dependants would cost an estimated £41 million in a full year. In considering this, the noble Lord must bear in mind that as a consequence of the last pay research exercise civil servants currently forego about £20 million a year in pay to take account of the difference in inflation-proofing practice between the Civil Service and the outside analogues taken as a whole. Further pay will have been foregone to match the extent to which the relevant outside employees contribute towards some inflation-proofing of their pensions, but it is not possible to quantity that contribution.
I cannot answer for the wider public sector, but for the public services for which I have responsibility, including the Civil Service, it is estimated that a 15 per cent. pension increase would cost about £150 million in a full year.
House adjourned at twenty-eight minutes past eight o'clock.