Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to schools of increasing the employer contribution to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in each of the next five fiscal years; and what plans he has to provide additional funding to the Department for Education to meet that cost.

We undertake valuations of the public service pension schemes every four years. This is the first time that a full assessment of the pension schemes has been undertaken since the government introduced reformed schemes in 2015. Early indications are that the amount employers pay towards the schemes will need to increase. This is because of proposed changes to the discount rate, which is used to assess the current cost of future payments from the schemes, to reflect the Office for Budget Responsibility’s long-term growth forecasts. Further details will be known later this year.

Some increase in costs was anticipated at Budget 16, which departments and the devolved administrations will need to meet in full. Treasury will be supporting departments with any unforeseen costs for 2019/20. Further discussions will be taken forward as part of the Spending Review.