§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in the National Health Service are eligible for indexed pensions; how they are broken down by function; and how many ancillary workers have received indexed pensions.
§ Mr. RossiAll pensions paid under the National Health Service superannuation scheme are indexed. Currently the scheme has approximately 830,000 "contributing" members and 176,000 members already receiving pensions. The latest readily available information from which an estimate can be made of the number of members by category is as at 31 March 1979 when there were approximately 712,000 "contributing" members. The figures at that date were as follows:
Number Female nurses, midwives, health visitors, physiotherapists 236,000 General practitioners (medical and opthalmic) 25,000 Dental practitioners 14,000 Others who are classed as non-manual workers 295,000 Others who are classed as manual workers* 142,000 * The majority of ancillary workers fall into this category. Ancillary workers who have received pensions cannot be identified from available records.