Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Estimate Memorandum

Transcription

1 Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Memorandum

2 The House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Memorandum for Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation, Main Introduction 1. This Main covers pension and associated costs arising in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme and the Civil Servants and Others Pension Scheme, known as Alpha. 2. The Net Resource Requirement set out in the Main is exclusively Resource Annually Managed Expenditure. The Net Resource Requirement is the net of the cash received by the schemes less scheme expenditure calculated under the relevant accounting standards. 3. This expenditure is almost entirely non-cash and is chiefly an estimate of the build-up of employee benefit entitlements during the year ( current service costs) and the interest charged because future benefits are one year closer to payment. Both these amounts are calculated by the Government Actuary's Department. 4. The actual cash spent to pay pension benefits does not form part of the Net Resource Requirement. By accounting convention it is deducted from the balance sheet provision for future pension liabilities and shown as "use of provisions" in the table below. Summary of changes between the and % Main Income -3,872-3, % Expenditure 12,252 11, % Net Resource Requirement (expenditure minus income as above) 8,380 7, % Adjustments to the Net Resource Requirement to give the Net Cash Rec uirement: New Provisions -12,240-11, % (non-cash) Use of Provisions. 6,120 6, % (cash) Net Cash 2,260 2, % ReQuirement

3 Breakdown and explanation for the Net Resource Requirement Analysis of Income 5. d gross income will decrease by 4.6% compared to the 2015/16 and comprises of: Contributions Receivable Transfers in Other Income. Contributions Receivable % -3,583-3, % 6. Contributions receivable are employee and employer contributions to the scheme, based on a percentage of salary. The small forecast increase in is due to a change in the pay bill assumption provided by the Office of Budget Responsibility. Transfers In % % 7. Income from Transfers In is cash paid by other pension schemes for former members who have transferred into the civil service schemes. The payments equal the actuarially assessed liabilities for the transferred members which will eventually be paid by the civil service schemes. In the took account of the transfer in of the House of Lords administration staff scheme. In there are not expected to be any material Transfers In. Other Income % % 8. Other income comprises cash receipts from employees and employers to cover the cost of bringing forward the payment of pensions and lump sums in connection with early retirements.

4 Analysis of Expenditure 9. d gross expenditure will decrease by 5.3% compared to the 2015/16 and comprises of: current service costs transfers in enhancements interest on the scheme liability other expenditure Current Service Costs % 4,931 4, ~7.1% 10. The current service cost is an actuarially calculated non-cash item. It represents the actuary's assessment of the value of the future pension entitlement built up by active members during the year. These are discounted back to a present value after taking account of inflation (Consumer Prices Index) and the discount rate set by HM Treasury under the methodology for unfunded public sector pension schemes. Transfers In % % 11. Transfers In represent the additional liabilities for future payments to members who have transferred into the Civil Service Schemes from other schemes. These are non-cash costs. They match the contributions receivable from these other schemes ( see above). In the took account of the transfer in of the House of Lords administration staff scheme. In there are not expected to be any material Transfers In. Enhancements % % 12. Pension enhancements are awards to members for extra years' service that are not actually worked by employees (usually through early retirement or the purchase of extra years' service by members).

5 Interest on the Scheme Liability % 7,020 6, % 13. Interest on the Scheme Liability is a non-cash cost. It represents the expected increase in the present value of the scheme liabilities because the benefits are one year closer to settlement. 14. There is a slight reduction in the interest cost compared to the due to a reduction in scheme liabilities as advised by GAD. Other Expenditure % % 15. Other Expenditure consists of small items such as injury benefits and is expected to be lower than Estimptes. Breakdown and Explanation of the changes to the Provision. New Provisions (non-cash) % -12,240-11, % 16. New provisions are the sum of the current service, transfers in, enhancement and interest costs (detailed within Net Resource Expenditure above). The reduction is largely due to the small increase in the discount rate used by GAD to calculate scheme liabilities. Use of Provisions (cash) % 6,120 6, % 17.The provision is utilised when a charge is made to pay pension benefits. The slight fall expected in is due to an expected fall in the number of early departure schemes.

6 Breakdown and Explanation for the Net Cash Requirement (NCR) Net Cash. 2,260 2, % ReQuirement 18.The NCR is the amount of extra cash required to fund the scheme's activities in once contributions (chiefly from employers and active scheme members) are netted off against the payment qf pension benefits. 19. The increase in the overall Net Cash Requirement compared to the s is mainly due to an expected reduction in the number of members from other schemes transferring into the Civil Service Schemes. \.