§ Mr. Hordernasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing all the contributions made by the Exchequer to the pension funds of the nationalised industries, local authorities, and all other public bodies, and estimates of any further contributions which may be made, setting out the year of payment and the body concerned.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 24th November 1978; Vol. 958, c. 786–87], gave the following information:
The Exchequer makes specific grants towards the cost of funding deficiencies in the pension funds of the following nationalised industries: British Rail, the National Freight Corporation and the National Coal Board.
The following table shows payments in past years and an estimate for the current year.
In addition, contributions of £11–25 million each quarter are made to the Post Office pension fund in accordance with the arrangements in the Post Office Act 1969 for the purpose of liquidating the Exchequer's liability for pension rights acquired before the Post Office was incorporated in 1969.
No such grants are made to local government pension funds although local authorities' contributions to their pension funds are relevant expenditure for the purposes of calculating rate support grant.
71WThere is a wide range of other public bodies to whose pension funds the Exchequer contributes, either directly in its capacity as employer or indirectly as part of its general contribution to meeting the costs of the body concerned. I regret that it is not possible to list all such contributions without a disproportionate expenditure of time and resources.