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Departments: Pensions

Volume 462: debated on Wednesday 11 July 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of staff in his Department are making additional voluntary contributions to their pensions; and what steps he has taken in the last 12 months to encourage more people to make such contributions. (147529)

Approximately 2,200 members of the Civil Service Pension arrangements in the Ministry of Defence (2.7 per cent. of the total Civil Service Pension schemes members employed by the Department) currently make additional voluntary pension contributions through deductions from their pay.

Pension scheme members receive an annual benefit statement showing the pension built up to date, and also a projection of pension on retirement if the member continues in service to scheme pension age. The benefit statement provides details of the Civil Service Pensions website where staff can obtain further information, including on options for making additional voluntary contributions to boost their pension. The Defence Intranet also provides staff with information on how to boost their pension and an annual office notice is issued to remind staff of the opportunity to have non-consolidated pay or bonuses paid into an additional voluntary contributions fund.