Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how women are affected by the loss of their Civil Service 'survivor' pension, following cohabitation with a new partner.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government Actuary’s Department completed the quadrennial actuarial valuation as at 31 March 2016 and showed that the average annual pension for surviving adult dependants in the Civil Service pension arrangements was around £2,100 for male dependants and around £4,700 for female dependants.
The pensions of widows, widowers and surviving civil partner pensions, under the Classic section of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, cease if they remarry or cohabit. In 2018, the Government Actuary’s Department estimated the extra cost of paying all survivor pensions, regardless of remarriage or cohabitation and when it occurred. The estimated extra cost in 2018 was around £550m for reinstating pensions that had already ceased and an annual future cost of around £30m for stopping the practice going forward. The estimate was a simplified approximation based on an earlier estimate done in 2006.
Based on our initial investigation of ceased pensions for the last financial year (April 2019 to March 2020), seven widows’ and four widowers’ pensions were ceased due to remarriage or cohabitation. However, we have also noted that the figure for the financial year ended March 2020 may not reflect the experience in recent years as the initial data obtained shows an average of around 120 pensions ceasing on remarriage or cohabitation per year for the period 2008 to 2019. The split of the data previous to the financial year ended March 2020 between widows and widowers, and the breakdown between England, Wales and Scotland, are not available at this point.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Civil Service (1) widows, and (2) widowers, in (a) England and Wales, and (b) Scotland, have had their pension revoked as a result of remarriage or cohabitation.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government Actuary’s Department completed the quadrennial actuarial valuation as at 31 March 2016 and showed that the average annual pension for surviving adult dependants in the Civil Service pension arrangements was around £2,100 for male dependants and around £4,700 for female dependants.
The pensions of widows, widowers and surviving civil partner pensions, under the Classic section of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, cease if they remarry or cohabit. In 2018, the Government Actuary’s Department estimated the extra cost of paying all survivor pensions, regardless of remarriage or cohabitation and when it occurred. The estimated extra cost in 2018 was around £550m for reinstating pensions that had already ceased and an annual future cost of around £30m for stopping the practice going forward. The estimate was a simplified approximation based on an earlier estimate done in 2006.
Based on our initial investigation of ceased pensions for the last financial year (April 2019 to March 2020), seven widows’ and four widowers’ pensions were ceased due to remarriage or cohabitation. However, we have also noted that the figure for the financial year ended March 2020 may not reflect the experience in recent years as the initial data obtained shows an average of around 120 pensions ceasing on remarriage or cohabitation per year for the period 2008 to 2019. The split of the data previous to the financial year ended March 2020 between widows and widowers, and the breakdown between England, Wales and Scotland, are not available at this point.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of paying all 'survivor' pensions to Civil Service (1) widows, and (2) widowers, regardless of remarriage or cohabitation and when it occurred.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government Actuary’s Department completed the quadrennial actuarial valuation as at 31 March 2016 and showed that the average annual pension for surviving adult dependants in the Civil Service pension arrangements was around £2,100 for male dependants and around £4,700 for female dependants.
The pensions of widows, widowers and surviving civil partner pensions, under the Classic section of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, cease if they remarry or cohabit. In 2018, the Government Actuary’s Department estimated the extra cost of paying all survivor pensions, regardless of remarriage or cohabitation and when it occurred. The estimated extra cost in 2018 was around £550m for reinstating pensions that had already ceased and an annual future cost of around £30m for stopping the practice going forward. The estimate was a simplified approximation based on an earlier estimate done in 2006.
Based on our initial investigation of ceased pensions for the last financial year (April 2019 to March 2020), seven widows’ and four widowers’ pensions were ceased due to remarriage or cohabitation. However, we have also noted that the figure for the financial year ended March 2020 may not reflect the experience in recent years as the initial data obtained shows an average of around 120 pensions ceasing on remarriage or cohabitation per year for the period 2008 to 2019. The split of the data previous to the financial year ended March 2020 between widows and widowers, and the breakdown between England, Wales and Scotland, are not available at this point.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact on Civil Service (1) widows, and (2) widowers, of the loss of their 'survivor' pension due to remarriage.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government Actuary’s Department completed the quadrennial actuarial valuation as at 31 March 2016 and showed that the average annual pension for surviving adult dependants in the Civil Service pension arrangements was around £2,100 for male dependants and around £4,700 for female dependants.
The pensions of widows, widowers and surviving civil partner pensions, under the Classic section of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, cease if they remarry or cohabit. In 2018, the Government Actuary’s Department estimated the extra cost of paying all survivor pensions, regardless of remarriage or cohabitation and when it occurred. The estimated extra cost in 2018 was around £550m for reinstating pensions that had already ceased and an annual future cost of around £30m for stopping the practice going forward. The estimate was a simplified approximation based on an earlier estimate done in 2006.
Based on our initial investigation of ceased pensions for the last financial year (April 2019 to March 2020), seven widows’ and four widowers’ pensions were ceased due to remarriage or cohabitation. However, we have also noted that the figure for the financial year ended March 2020 may not reflect the experience in recent years as the initial data obtained shows an average of around 120 pensions ceasing on remarriage or cohabitation per year for the period 2008 to 2019. The split of the data previous to the financial year ended March 2020 between widows and widowers, and the breakdown between England, Wales and Scotland, are not available at this point.