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Written question asked by Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 12 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 June 2026. It was answered by Torsten Bell (Labour) on Friday, 19 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.


Financial Assistance Scheme

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2026 to Question 3569, what the estimated cost is of providing retrospective pre-1997 indexation only, excluding arrears, at a CPI cap of 2.5% to Financial Assistance Scheme members whose former schemes provided for mandatory indexation.

Answer

The estimated cost of providing retrospective pre‑1997 indexation only, applying CPI capped at 2.5%, and excluding the payment of arrears, for Financial Assistance Scheme members whose former schemes provided for mandatory indexation, is approximately £0.4–£0.8 billion. This estimate is based on data as at 31 March 2025.

This in addition to the estimated cost of providing prospective pre‑1997 indexation only, which was set out at the Budget as approximately £0.3–£0.6 billion for the Financial Assistance Scheme.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
9442
Session
2026-27
Related items
Financial Assistance Scheme
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Costs Arrears Financial assistance scheme
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk