Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government which public sector employers, including (1) NHS bodies, (2) maintained schools, (3) academy trusts, and (4) transport authorities, operate optional remuneration arrangements involving the sacrifice of earnings for employer pension contributions.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Remuneration arrangements involving the sacrifice of earnings for employer pension contributions are not possible within statutory Public Service Pension Schemes and those public sector employers to which the Managing Public Money guidance applies are not permitted to offer such remuneration schemes. For other public sector organisations, the Government does not hold a central record of which organisations offer this type of salary sacrifice arrangement.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government which Government departments, Executive Agencies and Arm’s-Length Bodies operate salary sacrifice arrangements; and what categories of benefit are provided under those arrangements.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Cabinet Office does not hold information about what salary sacrifice schemes government departments offer.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government which Government departments, Executive Agencies and Arm’s-Length Bodies operate optional remuneration arrangements; and what categories of benefit are provided under those arrangements.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As individual employers, decisions on remuneration are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS). This information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Ministerial Pension Scheme or the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund benefit from any optional remuneration arrangements.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Ministerial Pension Scheme does not utilise salary sacrifice arrangements.

An active member is required to pay a member contribution rate of 11.2% of pensionable salary to participate in the scheme.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Ministerial Pension Scheme or the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund benefit from any salary sacrifice arrangements.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Ministerial Pension Scheme does not utilise salary sacrifice arrangements.

An active member is required to pay a member contribution rate of 11.2% of pensionable salary to participate in the scheme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they expect the NHS workforce plan to be published before the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We will publish the 10 Year Workforce Plan in Spring 2026. A specific publication date has not been agreed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether their workforce plan, due to be published in the spring, will cover resourcing of occupational health.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether voluntary exit or redundancy packages offered to civil servants are subject to a maximum cap; if so, whether that cap includes pension elements or pension-related costs; and what the current limits, eligibility criteria and conditions are for those packages across departments, including the Treasury.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The maximum cap for a Voluntary Exit (VE) or Voluntary Redundancy (VR) scheme relates to a salary cap of £149,820, mandatory for calculating higher value exit payments. There is no overall maximum cap, although exit offers should provide value for money. Pension top-ups are only mandatory for a VR scheme.

For both VE and VR, the minimum qualifying service is two years, although departments may exercise discretion.