Asked by: Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the number and percentage of people who are members of occupation pension schemes by region in (1) England, (2) Scotland, and (3) Wales.
Answered by Lord Freud
Information on the proportions of employees with workplace pensions is collected in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and published on the ONS website. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings-pension-tables/2013-provisional-results/index.html
Figure 1 shows that overall for the UK, 49.8 per cent of employees were members of workplace pension schemes in 2013. This is an increase from 46.5 per cent in 2012 and is the biggest rise in workplace pension coverage since figures began in 1997.
Figure 9 shows a breakdown of the proportion of employees with workplace pensions by sector and region. This shows a weak relationship between the region where the employer is located and the proportion of employees with a workplace pension. Overall membership was highest in Scotland (55.3 per cent) and lowest in East Midlands (46.7 per cent). In Wales it was 53.2 per cent.