§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the likely total cost to his Department over each of the next five years of financing private pension schemes for the staff of doctors.
§ Mr. MoyleA reliable estimate cannot yet be made. Employers' national insurance contributions and private pensions premiums have, however, been indirectly repaid to doctors for many years. The recently agreed changes in the scheme were simply designed to reimburse these contributions directly, and any additional cost should be modest.