Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 13
13
HM Treasury told us it has not yet performed an evaluation of its reforms.
Conclusion
HM Treasury told us it has not yet performed an evaluation of its reforms. In its 2011 report on public service pensions, the Committee noted that increasing the amount that employees have to contribute to pension schemes could result in more people opting out of their pensions and having to rely on means-tested benefits, leading to extra costs to the public purse, and that important implications of this kind needed to be evaluated and understood. We asked whether the government has undertaken any such evaluation since the 2011–2015 reforms. HM Treasury told us that it had not done any post-implementation evaluation of those reforms, including evaluation of the impact on individuals and whether they are more or less likely to need to access benefits.28 We also asked whether HM Treasury had undertaken any evaluation linking pensions and trends in economic outcomes across different generations. HM Treasury told us it would consider this as part of any evaluation undertaken in future.29
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: End 2021 6.2 HM Treasury will write to the Committee with an assessment of how it is meeting its objectives for public service pensions. 6.3 Given the long-term nature of pensions, these are still relatively recent reforms; a significant number of public sector employees continue to accrue benefits under legacy pension schemes and a large proportion of pension payments in the next decade will be for pensions already in payment. 6.4 The government notes that it is still in the course of implementing the 2011-2015 reforms by remedying the discrimination identified by the McCloud and Sargeant judgments and transferring remaining members into reformed schemes. This will be implemented through the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill 2021. 6.5 For these reasons, any assessment at this time will necessarily be limited until the reforms have been fully implemented and embedded in the public service pensions system.