§ Mr. Normantonasked the Minister for the Civil Service what was the actual cost of index-linked pensions for public servants during the years since this was enacted; and what is his estimate of the cost of providing index-linked pensions for civil servants over the next five years.
§ Mr. ChannonThe approximate expenditure on public service pensions over the years since 1971 is set out below:
89W90W91W
£ million 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 Armed Forces … … … … 140 157 186 200 255 316 361 431 Overseas Pensioners … … … 22 32 33 35 46 55 66 59 Civil Service … … … … 97 124 172 197 295 352 390 495 Teachers … … … … 107 130 143 180 236 298 367 483 NHS … … … … … 52 62 79 26* 144 196 242 327 Local Government … … … 85 95 114 157 221 286 354 418 Police and Fire … … … 45 49 61 70 101 149 157 158 * This figure is unusally low because of the abnormally high transfer values in that year. This was due to NHS reorganisation. † This table relates to the main public service pension schemes. It does not include the pension schemes of the nationalised industries, the smaller public services or fringe bodies. The increase in the cost is due to a combination of factors: increases in the prevailing levels of prices and of pensionable pay; the greater numbers of public servants retiring in recent years; and some widening of the coverage of public service pension schemes—e.g. to include local authority manual workers.
The future cost of providing Civil Service pensions—which at present account for just over 20 per cent. of the cost of 92W public service pensions—was estimated in the Government's latest White Paper (Cmnd. 7841). The figures, which cover the period to 1983–84 and are at constant 1979 survey prices, are as follows:
Financial Year Annual Expenditure £ million 1979–80 426 1980–81 458 1981–82 490 1982–83 520 1983–84 560