Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 17 January 2017, Official Report, column 279WH, what assessment he has made of the cost of index-linking pension rights acquired before 1997 for members of the Digital Equipment Ltd pension scheme.

The government does not hold the relevant figures. However, we have done some analysis of the impact across all pension schemes and produced a factsheet on the subject, a copy of which I will place in the Libraries of the House.

There is no statutory requirement for pensions earned before 1997 to be increased once in payment. To require schemes now to pay increases to pre-1997 pensions would place an additional and unexpected burden on schemes and their sponsoring employers.