This week the retiring Chief Secretary to the Treasury left a note for his successor saying that the Exchequer is broke! This is as a result of overspending by the last government particularly in the few months before the election.

I have obtained a copy of the Parliamentary Contribution Pension Fund (PCPF) dated March 3, 2010. Bearing in mind the recent date of the document I am assuming that it is up to date.

It would seem that members of the PCPF receive pensions based on one 50th. The interesting part is the contribution paid by the Exchequer. In the financial year 2002-03 the Exchequer’s contribution was 7.9 per cent of salary. For 2003/04/05/60 the contribution was 24 per cent. In the triennial valuation report laid before the House of Commons in March 2006 the Government Actuary’s department calculated that the Exchequer contribution should be 26.8 per cent of pensionable pay from 2006-07 until 2020-21 and then 18.1 per cent thereafter! The estimated cost of contributions payable by the Exchequer for 2006/07 to 2008/09 until the next triennial valuation is £11.9 million per annum!

MPs of all three major political parties seem agreed that there needs to be massive cuts in public spending. The only disagreement is timing.

Bradford Council pay 14.1 per cent as a contribution to teachers’ pensions. Most companies in the private sector have now abandoned the final salary scheme because it is too expensive. A private sector employee is likely to have ten per cent contributed by the employer.

Perhaps MPs who vote on the Exchequer contribution should look first at their own pension scheme before they look at cuts elsewhere in the public sector. I wonder how much Mrs Ann Cryer’s pension pot is worth for 13 years’ service.

J E Brown

Crossbeck Road, Ilkley