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Pensioners

Volume 508: debated on Monday 22 March 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the number of active members of defined (a) benefit and (b) contribution pension schemes in each year since 1997. (323483)

The requested information is not available. The following table sets out the number of active members of defined benefit and defined contribution occupational pension schemes for available years from 1995 to 2008.

In addition, individuals may contribute to personal or stakeholder pensions, which are defined contribution pension arrangements between an individual and the pension provider. Some individuals have more than one form of pension provision which means that there will be some double counting between personal and stakeholder pension holdings and the occupational pension memberships presented above. Information on personal and stakeholder pension arrangements are published by the HMRC:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/pensions/menu.htm

Million

Defined benefit schemes

Defined contribution schemes

Total

1995

9.2

1.1

10.3

2000

9.0

1.2

10.1

2004

8.6

1.2

9.8

2005

1.0

2006

8.2

1.0

9.2

2007

7.9

0.9

8.8

2008

8.0

1.0

9.0

Notes: 1. The 2005 survey did not cover the public sector and a total defined benefit figure is therefore not available. 2. Changes to the methodology for 2006 onwards mean that comparisons with 2005 and earlier years should be treated with caution. Source: Occupational Pension Schemes Survey.