MP Pensions Cost 20.5m
Published / Last Updated on 27/01/2008
MP pensions cost taxpayers £20.5m a year according to consultant John Ralfe, which is more than double the official estimate.
The 2006-07 House of Commons accounts showed the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund cost taxpayers 18.1 per cent of salary or £11.5m in that year.
The costs based on accounting standard FRS17 shows a cost of £16.5m. This is a massive 38 per cent of MPs’ salaries. Ralfe claims that this figure underestimated the true cost. He said “using realistic assumptions and more appropriate discount rates meant that the total cost of MPs’ pensions to the taxpayer was £20.5m or around 48 per cent of salary.
Our view
MPs pensions are a joke. They vote for their own pay rises. They vote for their own pensions. This is a conflict of interest and not in the public interest.
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