Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to communicate to the taxpayer the economic costs of public sector pensions.

Public service pensions are a crucial part of the total remuneration package for public sector workers, this includes the current OBR estimate of a £1.9 bn Exchequer top-up payment for 2020-21 and £1.89 tn in liabilities. The Government pays close attention to the cost of public service pensions to the taxpayer, forecasts of which are regularly published by the OBR on a cashflow basis in its Economic and Fiscal Outlook^[1] and Fiscal Sustainability Report^[2]. Information on long-term public service pension liabilities can be found in the Whole of Government Accounts^[3].

[1] https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2021/

[2] https://obr.uk/fsr/fiscal-sustainability-report-july-2018/

[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/whole-of-government-accounts-2018-2019