HL Deb 22 December 1982 vol 437 cc1171-2WA
Lord Oram

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether published statistics of overseas aid expenditure include pensions paid to former expatriate officials now retired and living in this country and, if so, whether they will state the amount of such payments in respect of each of the last 10 completed financial years.

Lord Belstead

Yes. The item "pensions and compensation" in Table 13 of "British Aid Statistics 1976–80" (HMSO 1982) comprises expenditure under subhead D2 "Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (Nigeria)" and Section F "Pensions and Allowances etc" in the Overseas Aid Vote (Class II, 10: 1982–83). Data for the last 10 calendar years are as follows:

£m
1972 .. .. .. 7.282
1973 .. .. .. 10.712
1974 .. .. .. 10.020
1975 .. .. .. 6.505
1976 .. .. .. 12.165
1977 .. .. .. 12.240
1978 .. .. .. 14.419
1979 .. .. .. 12.674
1980 .. .. .. 12.982
1981 (provisional) .. 16.598

The bulk of this expenditure is for pension liabilities attributable to pre-independence service by certain expatriate officers in former dependencies, responsibility for which has been assumed by Her Majesty's Government under the pensions takeover policy announced on 11th March 1970 (House of Commons Official Report, Vol. 797, col. 1344).

The takeover policy also covers pension liabilities for post-independence service, which are administered by Her Majesty's Government on behalf of the overseas Governments concerned, following payment by the latter of capital sums. They are met from the Overseas Services: Superannuation etc. (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) Vote (Class II, 9; 1982–83), as are index-linked supplements on the combined pensions.

A significant minority of the pensioners concerned live overseas.