§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Lord President of the Council (1) if he will estimate to what extent there would be costs to the Exchequer if all existing hon. Members were enabled to claim pension entitlement on reaching retirement age at 65 years for all of their years of service as an hon. Member;
(2) what is the total number of Members of the House of Commons who would not on normal age of retirement be entitled to claim pension for all their years of service in Parliament; and what would be the actual or estimated costs on an annual basis for these Members to be granted pension rights for such service.
§ Mr. Biffen[pursuant to his replies, 26 November 1982, c. 597 and 10 December 1982, c. 629]: There are 10 hon. Members with a number of years of service that will not be taken into account when their pensions are calculated. If all of the years of service of these hon. Members were to be taken into account, and assuming that they were all to retire at the next general election, it is estimated that expenditure on pensions would be increased in the first year of their retirement by about £11,000 and that the net present value of the total cost of the change would be about £115,000. These figures are expressed in terms of current salary levels.
If it were decided to make such a change in the Members' pension scheme—which would require legislation—the extent of a possible Exchequer contribution would be a matter for the Government.