To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what changes he intends to make to payments from the Civil Service Pension Scheme from April 2009; and whether savings are expected from these changes. (253982)

Pensions paid by the civil service scheme are adjusted in April by the same amount as the state second pension. Pension payments will therefore be increased from April, based on the retail prices index for September 2008.

I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I gave to the House on 16 December 2008, Official Report, columns 111-12WS.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with reference to the answer of 1 September 2008, Official Report, column 1431W, on the Civil Service: pensions, for what reason the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme resource accounts were not laid before Parliament after the House returned in the autumn of 2008; and when he plans to publish them. (249002)

The accounts were laid before Parliament on 22 January 2009 [HC60].

In my written ministerial statement of 16 December 2008, I referred to some overpayments made to pensioners of public sector pension schemes, including the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme.

The Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts contain reference to these overpayments. The decision was taken not to publish the accounts until such time as we had sufficient information to be able to inform those pensioners affected. Critical to this decision was the need to avoid unnecessary public concern among the vast majority (95 per cent.) of civil service pensioners who were entirely unaffected, but who would not have known that had a general announcement been made. Letters were sent to affected pensioners on 15 December and the statement, formally notifying Parliament of the overpayments, was made on 16 December.