Written question asked by Gordon Prentice (Labour) on Monday, 31 January 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 February 2005. It was answered by Phil Hope (Labour) on Monday, 7 February 2005 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Question: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how many representations he has received expressing concerns about the proposed changes to the local government pension scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many representations he has received expressing concerns about the proposed changes to the local government pension scheme; and if he will make a statement. [213945] Phil Hope: The Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment)(No 2) Regulations 2004 were laid before the House on 22 December 2004 and come into force on 1 April 2005. Amending regulations were the subject of a statutory consultation exercise between 31 March and 30 June 2004. Some 290 responses expressing concerns were received from that exercise and, of those, 220 involved correspondence from hon. Members on behalf of their constituents. Subsequently, around 5,000 items of additional correspondence have been received, representing 0.3 per cent. of the 1.5 million current active Scheme membership. Since the end of the consultation exercise, a further 530 items of correspondence have been received from hon. Members, enclosing a variety of trades union campaign letters and leaflets.

Secondary information