Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing employer contributions to public pensions from 2020-21 in the next Spending Review.

Employer contributions in the unfunded public service pension schemes are set following quadrennial valuations. The current valuations, which assess the schemes as at 31 March 2016, are in the process of being finalised. As I announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 September 2018, these valuations indicate employers need to pay more towards the schemes because of changes to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s long-term GDP growth forecasts, reflected in the SCAPE discount rate. The new employer contribution rates will take effect in 2019 and will apply for a 4-year period.