§ Mr. CatonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will backdate the pension arrangements for widowers of female teachers to align them with the pension arrangements for widows of male teachers. [143138]
§ Mr. WicksThe teachers' pension scheme has provided automatic widowers' pensions since 6 April 1988. Female teachers are able to pay additional contributions to cover earlier periods of service if they wish to do so. It is public service policy that scheme improvements are not introduced with retrospective effect.