§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Lord President of the Council whether he will publish in theOfficial Reporta detailed list showing the pensions receivable by hon. Members of Parliament after 25 to 30 years' service on an annual incremental basis on 1st September 1978 and 1st September 1979, on a comparative basis as requested in the letter sent to him on 8th December by the hon. Member for Newham, North-West.
§ Mr. Foot:The table below shows the gross pension (a) that would be awarded to hon. Members with different periods of reckonable service whose pensions began on the dates indicated and the lump sum that would be obtained by the maximum commutation permitted under section 11 of the Parliamentary and Other Pensions Act 1972. Comparable information for Metropolitan Police officers was supplied by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretarry in his answer of 7th December 1978.—[Vol. 959, c. 720–22.].
indexing of pensions; and how these increases compare with the salary increases paid to hon. Members during the same period.
§ Mr. Foot:137 former hon. Members are in receipt of pensions from the Parliarmentary contributory pension scheme, and 51 of these are now Members of the House of Lords. It would be contrary to normal practice to give individual details 573W of the financial position of former hon. Members. However a pension in payment on 1st December 1974 would have increased by 81.4 per cent. over the last four years. The salary in payment to hon. Members has increased by 53.3 per cent. over the same period.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Lord President of the Council whether he will state the additional costs to the Exchequer of allowing hon. Members the same pensions entitlement as civil servants.
§ Mr. Foot:There are only minor differences between the parliamentary pensions scheme and the principal Civil Service pension scheme, and in some respects, for example in its provision for widowers' and children's pensions, the parliamentary scheme is more favourable. Verry detailed actuarial calculations, requiring a disproportionate time and effort, would therefore be needed to determine whether the application of Civil Service arrangements to hon. Members would increase or decrease Excheqeuer expenditure.