Mandarins’ £907k pension pot is triple the private average

THE most senior civil servants have an average pension pot of £907,273, figures show, nearly three times more than the average private sector equivalent.

The 22 leaders of Government departments have accumulated a £20million pension pot between them, analysis by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) found.

The civil servant with the largest pot is Sir Simon McDonald, head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with £1,858,000. He will retire on a pension of up to £85,000 a year, the TPA said.

On average, the top civil servants will retire on £50,909 per year, and 14 of them are set to receive an additional average lump sum of £148,929.

There is growing concern at the gap in public and private sector pensions, the latter of which require far more to be saved for employees to reap the benefits during retirement.

John O’Connell, the chief executive of the TPA, said: “With the enormous liabilities for public sector pensions kept off the official debt figures, they must be reformed to make them more sustainable in the long-term, otherwise future generations will be footing the bill.”

It is worse, the TPA says, since civil service pensions are technically unfunded and pots are made available to employees on an IOU basis once they retire – meaning the Government has to fund them using taxes.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “Pay and benefits for senior civil servants reflect the level of responsibility associated with their role. These are transparent and published every year in each department’s accounts.”