Written question asked by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Wednesday, 3 May 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 May 2006. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 May 2006 on behalf of the Treasury.

Pensions (Public Sector)

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many public sector employees were covered by final salary pension schemes in (a) 1997 and (b) 2005.

Answer: We do not have data for the exact years requested. However, for the years 1995 and 2004, the number of employees covered by public service final salary schemes, which include the civil service, NHS employees, teachers, armed forces, police officers, fire fighters and local government employees were 3.9 and 5 million respectively. These figures do not include employees in public corporations, as information about their schemes is not centrally held.Increases in public sector employment have been concentrated in priority areas and focused on frontline delivery. However, there are other factors such as increases in the proportion of part-time employees opting to join public service schemes.

Secondary information