To ask the Secretary of State for International Development for how many pensions the Department is responsible in relation to people (a) above and (b) below retirement age; and how many of these people previously accrued pension rights at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. (74843)

The Department for International Development (DFID) is responsible for pension costs for staff leaving on early departure grounds (excluding ill health retirement). DFID is responsible for meeting the full costs of compensation, including the early payment of pensions until age 60.

When staff retire on age grounds their pension costs are met centrally from the outset. We are not therefore responsible for the pensions of any former staff above the retirement age.

We are currently responsible for the pension costs of 67 former members of staff below the pension age, of these three were inherited from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.