To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the current rate of employer contribution is to each public sector pension scheme for which her Department has responsibility; what the revenue impact would be of capping the employer contribution to each such scheme at 14 per cent. and if she will make a statement. (144296)

Figures derived from the most recent statistical returns for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales indicate that in 2005-06, the average employer contribution rate for the scheme was 15.2 per cent. of payroll. For the firefighters’ pension scheme, the current estimated employers’ cost is 26.5 per cent. of payroll and 14.2 per cent. for members of the new firefighters’ pension scheme.

Introducing a cap of 14 per cent. employers’ contributions to the LGPS would reduce scheme income by some £326 million per annum on current estimated figures. For the firefighters’ pension schemes, the equivalent estimate figure is some £120 million.