§ Ms LawrenceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase public service pensions from April 1999. [60987]
§ Mr. ByersLegislation governing public service pensions requires them to be increased annually by the same percentage as State earnings-related pensions (additional pensions). My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security announced on 28 October 1998,Official Report, columns 339–42, that additional pensions will be increased by 3.2 per cent. in line with the annual increase in the Retail Prices Index up to September 1998. Public service pensions will therefore be increased by 3.2 per from 12 April 1999, except those which have been in payment for less than a year, which will receive a pro-rata increase.