HC Deb 09 July 2002 vol 388 c884W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much money was spent by the relevant pension fund on paying pensions to retired(a) local government employees and (b) firefighters in 2001–02; if he will estimate the corresponding amounts to be spent in (i) five years' time, (ii) 10 years' time, (iii) 20 years' time and (iv) 30 years' time; if he will estimate in each case the proportion of such liabilities which will arise from (a) unfunded pension schemes and (b) pre-funded pension schemes; and in the case of pre-funded schemes, if he will estimate the value of the corresponding pre-funded funds in each of these years. [66563]

Mr. Raynsford

The Local Government Pension Scheme (the LGPS) is a funded scheme administered at local level by authorities in England and Wales. For the year 2000–01, the latest for which we hold information, payments for LGPS pensioner members amounted to £3.5 billion.

The Firefighters' Pension Scheme (the FPS) is also administered locally by individual fire authorities. Its liabilities are not subject to pension funds. For 2000–01, the latest year for which returns are available, the provisional net total of payments under the scheme for fire authorities in England was £250 million.

Estimates of projected liability expenditure from both the funded LGPS and the unfunded FPS are not held centrally for the periods in question.