Ministerial pensions: further increase in contributions
1 Apr 2014 02:50 PM
From today, 1 April 2014, ministers and whips will have to make a
greater contribution to their pensions.
Ministers and Whips will be paying up to 16% in contributions from today,
while cabinet ministers could be paying nearly 18%, Minister Francis Maude
announced today, making their contributions one of the highest in the public
sector.
By 2014 to 2015, ministers’ pension contributions will have increased
by up to 6 percentage points since 2011 to 2012.
From 1 April 2014:
- Secretaries of State, the Leader of the Opposition in the Commons
and the Speaker in the House of Lords will pay an additional 1.2 percentage
points of pay, a total of 6 percentage points higher than 2011 to 2012
- Ministers of State, the Government Chief Whip, the Leader of the
Opposition in the Lords, the Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords and
the Deputy Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords will pay an additional
0.8 percentage points of pay, a total of 4 percentage points higher than 2011
to 2012
- Parliamentary Under Secretaries, the Government Whips and
Opposition Whips will pay an additional 0.5 percentage points of pay, a total
of 2.5 percentage points higher than 2011 to 2012
The changes mean an average contribution increase of 4.2 percentage points
since 2012, which is higher than the average 3.2 percentage points increase in
other public service schemes.
Francis Maude said:
As part of our long term economic plan this government has reformed public
service pensions so they are fair to both public sector workers, and
hardworking taxpayers.
Ministers are not exempt. All ministers took a 5% pay cut at the start of
this government, and a 5-year pay freeze. Under these changes we are asking
them to pay more into their pensions.