Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to change the premium deduction in the (a) widows, (b) widowers and (c) civil partners pension provisions of the 1972 Section of the Civil Service pension arrangement so that when a member remains (i) unmarried or (ii) not in a civil partnership their surviving children receive the premium deduction refund.

The premium deduction is there to protect the Civil Service Pension Scheme against the specific risk of a member marrying or entering a civil partnership after retiring and then pre-deceasing their spouse/civil partner. The amount of the premium is set at a level that takes account of the likelihood of this happening.

If the premium were to be repaid to the member’s estate should they subsequently die without marrying or entering a civil partnership, the amount of the premium would need to be significantly higher as it would only be retained by the scheme in circumstances where a spouse/civil partner’s pension was payable.

The Government does not consider that a change to the current arrangements is justified.