§ Sir Brandon Rhys Williamsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cost of implementing the uprating of public service pensions in accordance with the actual formula adopted in the decade from 1950 to 1960, from 1960 to 1970, and in each of the years from 1970 to the most recent uprating; and what would have been the cost if the upratings had been made on the basis of the most recently ascertainable changes in the gross national product.
§ Mr. Hayhoe[pursuant to his reply, 19 November, 1982, c. 297]: I am sorry not to have given my hon. Friend a reply before now about the costs of uprating public sector pensions, and I am afraid that I am able to give only part of the information requested. Assembling information from various sources back to 1950 is, I fear, a considerable exercise and I do not think the expense is justified.
However the following table which is based on one published in the Scott report shows the expenditure on retirement pensions for four major public service groups in the period since 1970.
Financial year Civil Service Local Government NHS Teachers £m £m £m £m 1970–71 92 88 42 94 1971–72 109 85 50 107 1972–73 130 95 60 130 1973–74 172 114 78 143 1974–75 197 157 105 180 1975–76 295 221 143 236 1976–77 352 286 193 298 1977–78 390 354 238 367 1978–79 495 418 274 483 1979–80 580 493 379 517 1980–81 755 580 470 650 1981–82 959 700 540 780 1982–83 1,057 740 622 925 The variation in costs from year to year is affected by a number of factors apart from the method used in uprating. These include the number of pensioners, their average length of reckonable service, and pensionable pay. It is not, therefore, possible to calculate what the cost of uprating by GNP would have been without going into detail, year by year, on these factors. However, as a way of obtaining a broad answer to the line of enquiry which I believe lies behind your question, I can say that from 1971, when index linking of public service pensions was introduced, to 1982, the cumulative increase in the RPI was 302 per cent.; in GNP it was 376 per cent.; and the cumulative public service pensions increase was 315 per cent. To have increased these pensions by GNP therefore would have been considerably more costly over the period than increases on the basis actually used.