Revealed: The gold plated pensions of top civil servants

Embargo: 00:01 Tuesday 28th November

New research by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has revealed that in 2022-23, 20 leading civil servants who run UK government departments had an average pension pot of £1.1 million. Combined, these pension pots were worth £21 million. Of these, ten had pension pots worth more than the lifetime allowance currently set at £1,073,100.

Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office had the largest accrued pension at £102,500. In 2022 Rycroft was handed a knighthood despite overseeing record numbers of illegal channel crossings. Rycroft has overseen record levels of net migration, which were revised up to 745,000 in 2022 by the Office for National Statistics last week.

Sir Philip Barton, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had the largest pension pot worth £2,016,000 in 2022-23. During the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Sir Philip stayed on holiday until 11 days after Kabul fell. 

The average pension upon retirement for these 20 civil servants will be £65,921. This is more than double the average gross UK private sector salary in 2023.

The TPA is calling for civil service pensions to operate on a funded, defined contribution pension scheme, like the private sector, instead of the generous defined benefit model currently used.

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Key findings:

• In 2022-23, 20 leading civil servants who run UK government departments had an average pension pot of £1,105,000. Combined, these pension pots were worth £20,995,000. Of these, ten had pension pots worth more than the lifetime allowance currently set at £1,073,100.
  
  
• Sir Philip Barton, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office had the largest pension pot worth £2,016,000 in 2022-23.
  
  
• Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office had the largest accrued pension at £102,500. A further three received over £90,000 in accrued pensions.
  
  
• The average pension upon retirement will be £65,921. This is more than double the average gross UK private sector salary in 2023.
  
  
• Ten of the senior civil servants analysed in this note will receive a lump sum upon retirement. The average lump sum was £131,500.
  
  
• The top civil servants with the largest annual pensions are Matthew Rycroft, Tamara Finkelstein, Sir Philip Barton and Sir Christopher Wormald, the heads of the Home Office, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Department of Health and Social Care respectively.

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Jonathan Eida, researcher at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said

"Hard-pressed Brits will be shocked by the nest eggs some top brass bureaucrats are sitting on. 

“Senior civil servants enjoy retirement packages that most private sector workers could only dream of, with the taxpayers who pay for them being crushed under the weight of the tax burden.

“It’s time to reform these overly-generous schemes, and bring public sector pensions into line with similar benefits enjoyed by those in the private sector.

TPA spokespeople are available for live and pre-recorded broadcast interviews via 07795 084 113 (no texts)

Media contact:

Conor Holohan

Media Campaign Manager, TaxPayers' Alliance

[email protected]

24-hour media hotline: 07795 084 113 (no texts)

Notes to editors:

1. Founded in 2004 by Matthew Elliott and Andrew Allum, the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) campaigns to reform taxes and public services, cut waste and speak up for British taxpayers. Find out more at www.taxpayersalliance.com.
   
   
2. TaxPayers' Alliance's advisory council.
   
   
3. The figures for the permanent secretaries at the Department for Health and Social Care and Ministry of Justice are derived from the 2021-22 accounts as they have not provided the 2022-23 financial information yet.
   
   
4. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has no entry as they did not provide an annual report for 2022-23 in time for this paper and its permanent secretary moved to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from the 7th February 2023 with no replacement announced until June 2023.
   
   
5. The permanent secretary at the Northern Ireland Office had no pension figures provided in their annual report.
   
   
6. Figures have generally been derived from 2022-23 annual reports of UK government departments. Where this is not the case, then the set of accounts that gives the most up to date picture of the senior civil servant’s CETV is included, and a note has been provided in their entry. This includes those who have moved to a partnership pension account.