Ministers' pensions worth nearly a third more than previous

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Ministers' pensions worth nearly a third more than previously thought

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Ministers' pension pots have been valued at nearly £9million - almost a third more than previously thought.

Research published today suggested that the average retirement fund for members of the Government was now worth £94,256, although some have much bigger pots.

Chancellor Alistair Darling's was valued at £377,000 while Justice Secretary Jack Straw's was £467,000, figures from departmental resource accounts showed.

Gordon Brown's was worth £274,000, although he has forsaken the more favourable pension available to previous prime ministers.

Ministers' pensions are in addition to the gold-plated final salary scheme that they are entitled to as MPs, worth up to two-thirds of their £64,766 annual wage.

The estimated average private workers' pension pot is just over £25,000, according to the Association of British Insurers.

The figures, compiled by the Liberal Democrats, indicated that the total value of ministers' pensions totalled £8.95 million in March - up from £6.89 million at the same time last year.

The increase is thought to have resulted from changes to accounting rules, suggesting that the funds were worth more than set out in the 2008 accounts.

The pots are available from the age of 55, while their MPs' pensions can be claimed from 60.

The figures come after the International Monetary Fund called on the Government last week to increase the retirement age in Britain still further to help bring down the UK's deficit.

The Lib Dems said today that ministers were looking forward to much better retirement terms than private sector employees.

The party's Treasury spokesman, Lord Oakeshott, urged the Tories to use their annual conference in Manchester this week to set out pensions reform.

"Ministers' pension pots shot up by 30% last year while private pensions plummeted," he said.

"The yawning chasm between public and private pensions is unhealthy for our economy and democracy.

"Harriet Harman, for example, will be able to retire next year at 60 with a total pension pot worth almost £1.5m.

"But the women's state pension age goes up next year to 61 and to 65 by 2020. How equal is that?

"The Government must act urgently after this week's wake-up call from the IMF.

"Public Sector fat cats must come off their double cream pensions and onto an affordable pensions diet, like the millions of taxpayers on modest and middle incomes who have to pay the bill."

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[POSTMAN]

Ahhh bless,and i thought everyone was f****d,good to know some are ok.

[POSTMAN]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... llion.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ministers' pension pots are worth £9 million
The full value of the gold-plated pensions of Government ministers can be revealed today, with new figures showing that they are worth a total of nearly £9m this year.

Official figures unearthed by the Liberal Democrats show that total pension funds for the members of the Government have shot up from the £6,888,081 declared last year to £8,954,348 this year.

The rises are understood to be largely the result of a change in accounting rules which means that the full value of ministers' pensions is being revealed for the first time.

The Chancellor, Alistair Darling now sits on a ministerial pension pot of £377,000, up from £256,000 declared last year.

Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, has a £467,000 ministerial pension pot, up from £315,000 last year.

Although he gave up his entitlement to a larger Prime Ministerial pension, Gordon Brown's ministerial fund is worth £274,000. Together with his MP's pension, he would be able to retire on an annual income of over £60,000 a year.

The pension fund of Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, is revealed to be £279,000, up from £160,000, while the former cabinet minister Margaret Beckett has a pot worth £373,614, up from £275,000.

By contrast, the average worker's private pension fund has a value of around £25,000, which, because of falling annuity rates, would provide an annual income of a little over £1,600 a year.

The Government pensions are detailed in Whitehall documents showing the value of each minister's pension fund as it stood at the end of March this year.

When added to the final salary pension they receive as an MP, many ministers will enjoy a substantial retirement income.

According to the new figures, Harriet Harman's ministerial pension fund now stands at £304,000, up from £136,000 in 2008. Combined with the final salary pension she will receive as an MP, the Labour deputy leader and minister for equality would be able to retire on around £60,000 a year in total.

Under current rules, Ministers are able to cash in their pension at the age of 55, while MPs have to wait until they are 65 if they are a man, and 60 if they are a woman.

Whilst some of the increase in the value of the pension pots might normally be explained by increased investment return, it is unlikely that this is the explanation this year, given the state of the financial markets over the past 12 months.

Private workers' pension pots are estimated to have fallen in value by as much as a quarter as stock markets have tumbled and interest rates have fallen.

Yvette Cooper, the work and pensions secretary, has a pension fund of £73,000, up from £48,000 last year. Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, has a ministerial pension pot of £158,000, up from £97,000, while Geoff Hoon, the former transport secretary, has £257,000, up from £138,000 declared last year.

Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, has a pension fund worth £139,000, up from £87,000, while Jacqui Smith, the former Home Secretary, has a pot of £88,000, up from £60,000.

Dawn Primarolo, the former paymaster general and now minister for children, has a pension fund of £180,000, up from £152,000 last year.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, has a pension fund worth £79,000, up from £50,000 in 2008. Lord Mandelson has a ministerial pension pot worth £86,000.

The Cabinet Office refused to give any further explanation of the increases last night except to say that anyone who had questions would need to submit a Freedom of Information request.

Opposition MPs said most of the increase had to be because the government had finally "come clean".

The new accounting rules were put in place this year after a long campaign by pressure groups who said the way ministerial pensions were presented masked their true value. For the first time this year, the declarations comply with the Occupational Pension Schemes Regulations 2008.

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: "Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality, can retire next year at 60 with a £1 million pension pot. But the women's state pension age goes up next year to 61 and to 65 by 2012. How equal is that?

"Public sector fat cats must come off their double cream pensions and onto an affordable pensions diet like everyone else."

Pensions experts have warned of a growing "pensions apartheid" dividing public sector workers from private sector staff with less generous retirement schemes.

Ministers contribute to their pension funds, but the largest contribution comes from the Treasury, which pays 26.8 per cent of a minister's salary into the pot.

The cost to the taxpayer of MPs' pensions has risen from £9.8 million in 2003 to £12 million last year.

The most generous rules apply to the Prime Minister and the Speaker who are entitled to a pension of half their final office-holder's salary, regardless of length of service. Proposals were made to change this arrangement by the Senior Salary Review Body in their January 2008 report. The Government accepted the recommendation in respect of the Prime Minister but did not accept it in relation to the Speaker.

[ExSG]

Good to see Alan Johnson is doing so well.

He obviously made the right choice when he put himself up for UPW Committee (Slough)/Secretary(Slough)/UCW Executive Council/Labour Party EC/CWU Gen Secretary . . . . . . .

He owes nothing of his current position as Home Secretary to those Branches and postal staff who voted for him does he?

Or even his CWU pension he presumably got whilst Gen Sec. Is it frozen? Should it be added to his fast increasing pot as HS?

Trust you guys in Hull have confidence in him as your MP