Skip to main content

Ministerial Pensions

Volume 923: debated on Thursday 23 December 1976

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will give general details of the pensions due or claimable by ex-Ministers of the Crown who have served in office for one to five years, five to 10 years and above 10 years; on the basis of present inflation, what these indexed pensions will be in five to 10 years and 10 to 20 years; and what gross income would have to be earned to enable these pensions to be received at these stated dates.

Until 1972 a Minister was able to earn pension only in respect of salary received as a Member of the House of Commons. The Parliamentary and Other Pensions Act 1972 introduced new pension arrangements giving an option for Ministers to be pensioned from 1st April 1972 on any salary in excess of that as a Member of the House of Commons. The ratio from time to time between the excess salary and the pensionable salary of a Member governs the rate of accrual of pension under the Supplementary Scheme. For example, in any one year in which the excess equals the Member's pensionable salary the accrual rate in the Supplementary Scheme will equal the accrual rate in the Members' Scheme; this is the general position for Cabinet Ministers at the present time. As the supplementary arrangements have been in operation for less than five years and there has been a change of administration since 1972, the amount of any pension earned under these arrangements will be relatively small.I cannot endorse my hon. Friend's assumption of the present rate of inflation continuing indefinitely. In any event, it is impossible to forecast what level of ministerial salary would be required in the future to produce a particular level of pension from the supplementary arrangements particularly as such pensions depend upon the pensionable salary of a Member of the House of Commons at the date of retirement.

GradePresent Basic Salary £ paSuperannuation pention £ paProvision| Lump Sum§ £Pension in 2 years' time assuming 15 per cent. inflation £ pa
Permanent Secretary20,175*11,500‡34,500‡15,208·75
18,675*10,500‡31,500‡13,886·25
17,175*9,500‡28,500*12,563·75
Deputy Secretary14,000*7,500‡22,500‡9,918·75
Under-Secretary12,0006,00018,0007,935·00
Chief Scientific Officer (lower band)11,6705,83517,5057,716·79
Senior Director (Accounts)11,6705,83517,5057,716·79
Directing Grade A (P & T)11,4405,72017,1607,564·70
Principal Medical Officer11,4405,72017,1607,564·70
Deputy Chief Scientific Officer10,180-5,59516,7857,399·39
11,190
Directing Grade B (P & T)11,0005,50016,5007,273·75
Senior Medical Officer11,0005,50016,5007,273·75
* These rates are those actually in payment; i.e. they exclude the second stage of the increase authorised for the Higher Civil Service following the Government's acceptance of the recommendations in Report No. 6 by the Review Body on Top Salaries (Cmnd. 5846) in December 1974.
† These rates do not attract London Weighting.
‡ Pension and lump sum based on salary promulgated but partly withheld in the present restrictions—see * above.
§ Gross amount—liable to reduction if any outstanding contributions for widow's pension scheme at date of retirement.
| Assuming at least 12 months on maximum of scale and 40 years' reckonable service at retirement.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what are his estimates in current and constant prices of pensions paid under the Civil Service Pension Scheme in 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76 and 1980–81 in total and per capita.

Expenditure on Civil Service pensions is met from the Vote for Civil Superannuation, etc.—class XIV, Vote 6. The outturn for the Vote, including lump sum benefits and