To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average annual public sector pension payment to a former public sector worker was in (a) 1985, (b) 1995 and (c) 2005. (100603)

The average pension paid to former public servants and their dependants from central Government unfunded public service pension schemes was approximately £6,300 in 2004-05, based on figures available for the large schemes which publish accounts. More detailed figures are available in individual scheme accounts.

The average pension paid from the funded Local Government Pension Scheme (UK) in 2004-05 was approximately £3,500.

Figures for the wider public sector are not held centrally. Comparable figures for 1994-95 and 1984-85 are not obtainable without incurring disproportionate costs.