As first reported by The Telegraph, more than 20 retired civil servants are now receiving pensions worth over £150,000 a year, according to figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests.
The data shows that 23 former officials have crossed the £150,000 threshold, while 263 retirees now receive annual pensions exceeding £100,000. In 2022-23, that figure stood at 71, meaning the number of six figure Civil Service pensions has risen by almost four times in just a few years.
The number of pensions above £50,000 has also increased sharply. In 2022-23, 3,025 retired civil servants were receiving more than £50,000 a year. By the start of the 2026-27 financial year, that figure had climbed to 7,234, according to the Telegraph’s reporting.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme is one of the largest public sector schemes in Britain. Taxpayer contributions are expected to reach around £6.8 billion during 2025-26, with employer pension contributions equal to roughly 29 per cent of salary. Civil servants themselves contribute an average of 5.7 per cent.
The scheme provides inflation linked pensions for life. Older arrangements were based on final salary, before reforms shifted most workers onto career average schemes. However, transitional protections linked to earlier changes were later ruled discriminatory, adding an estimated £17 billion to taxpayer liabilities, according to the Telegraph report.
Jacob Rees-Mogg described the pensions as “unaffordable” and argued that civil servants should move to defined contribution schemes, similar to those used across much of the private sector.
Paul Johnson said the figures reflected pension arrangements that had historically become “out of control”, adding that the balance between pay and pensions was increasingly out of step with private sector employment.
Research referenced by the Telegraph from the TaxPayers’ Alliance found that 22 senior officials had built pension entitlements with a cash value above £1 million. Three are already receiving pensions worth more than £100,000 annually.
The Telegraph also reported that Britain’s total public sector pension liabilities are now estimated at £5.8 trillion, with around £57 billion paid out each year to retired public sector workers.
A Cabinet Office spokesman told the newspaper that the highest value pensions account for only a very small proportion of members and mainly relate to historic final salary schemes that are now closed to new entrants.
Burnham to U-turn on demand to reverse brexit- i news article