Question
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the Ministry of Defence's budget was spent on pensions in each year from 2005–06 to 2009–10; and what proportion is forecast to be spent on pensions in (a) five, and (b) 10, years' time. [HL1509]
The proportion of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget spent on pension contributions and the War Pensions Scheme in each year from 2005-06 to 2008-09 is:
Financial Year Military Pension Contributions1, 2 £billion Civilian Pension Contributions1, 3 £ billion War Pension Payments Payments1 £ billion Total £ billion Proportion4 2005-06 1.407 0.345 1.069 2.821 6.9% 2006-07 1.421 0.346 1.039 2.806 6.8% 2007-08 1.462 0.363 1.014 2.839 6.4% 2008-09 1.502 0.344 1.000 2.846 6.2%
Footnotes:
1. Figures taken from MoD Departmental Resource Accounts for the appropriate Financial Year.
2. Military Superannuation Contributions Adjusted for Past Experience (SCAPE). Paid into the Armed Forces Pensions Scheme as a receipt.
3. Civilian SCAPE. Paid into the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme as a receipt.
4. The calculation of the percentage figures has been based on the sum of the outturn for (a) Departmental Expenditure Limits, including non-cash costs (depreciation, impairments and cost of capital) and (b) War pensions and allowances (Request for Resources 3).
In addition, payments made under the separately funded Armed Forces Pensions Scheme have been as follows:
2005-06—£2.8 billion;
2006-07—£3.0 billion;
2007-08—£3.2 billion; and
2008-09—£3.4 billion.
It is impossible to indicate what proportion of the defence budget is forecast to be spent on pensions. The defence budget is set during planning rounds which only look out over a three-year period (four in a Comprehensive Spending Review). Therefore, it is not possible to determine the pension costs as a proportion of the budget for future years. The next spending review is expected to start this summer for the years after 2010-11.
The forecast pension spend for the Armed Forces Pensions Scheme for 2014-15 is £4.7 billion.
The forecast pension spend for the War Pension Scheme for 2014-15 is £0.944 billion.
It is not possible to provide the forecast pension spend for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme for the MoD as, other than the intelligence services, the information is only produced across the whole Civil Service and not broken out by individual employer.