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25
Jan
How much did North Yorkshire Council spend on staff pensions last year?
North Yorkshire Council spent more than £40 million on pension contributions last year.
The Stray Ferret asked the council for the figure after The Times revealed nearly £1 in every £4 of council tax raised was spent on staff pensions last year.
The Times submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests to 317 councils last year – 254 of which responded – which revealed nearly £7 billion was spent on their staffs' pensions over the last year.
Andrew Ellson of The Times reported:
By comparison, local authorities spent £1.1 billion on libraries, culture, heritage and tourism and £2.2 billion on emergency housing.
Councils’ biggest single expenditure is adult social care, which cost £20 billion last year.
The figures mean the average household is effectively paying more than £230 a year directly into council staff pensions. The typical council employee in the scheme earns nearly £40,000 a year, significantly above the national average.
The Times' article included an interactive table for readers, which showed the amount individual councils made in council tax last year, and how much of that was spent on pension contributions.
However, the data for North Yorkshire Council was not included in the piece. For this reason, the Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council how much council tax was generated last year, and how much of it was spent on staff pensions.
A council spokesperson said in the 2023 to 2024 financial year, the council made a total of £428 million in council tax income.
The authority’s employer pension contributions amounted to £42.6 million over the same period. The spokesperson did not specify if the pension contributions were funded solely by council tax or other income streams.
The spokesperson added North Yorkshire Council’s total revenue is £1.091 billion. Using this figure, the pension contributions amount to around 3.9% of total revenue.
The news comes after the Conservative-run council accused the Labour government of penalising rural councils by reducing their funding in favour of more densely populated local authorities.
The council said the government had awarded it “the fourth worst core funding settlement in the country” behind Herefordshire, Rutland and Shropshire.
It said the settlement had left it with a £5 million budget deficit and therefore it would propose the maximum council tax increase, which would see a hike of 4.99% including a 2% precept for adult social care.
It means the average Band D property is likely to see its bill increase by £92.18 from April to £1,939.54 – plus whatever it is charged for police and fire services, as well as its local parish council.
Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council.
Comparisons
The Stray Ferret looked at how other councils' pension contributions compare to North Yorkshire Council.
Those included in The Times relate to council tax income spent on staff pensions.
The Times reports Hampshire County Council paid the single largest amount towards staff pensions last year – contributing £281 million. This is equivalent to around £4,600 for every member of staff, but The Times said this was to cover three years of contributions.
Birmingham City Council, which declared bankruptcy in 2023, made £384.8 million in council tax last year. £141.7 million of that was spent on pensions – around 36%.
But Birmingham City Council's workforce is more than four times the size of North Yorkshire Council's. The former employs around 58,000 people, whilst the latter employs more than 13,000.
The Times reports Basingstoke and Dean Borough Council actually spent more on pension contributions than it made in council tax.
Last year, it made £9.5 million in council tax and spent £10.1 million on pensions – that is 106.3%.
Council response
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council for comment on the pension contribution figures.
A spokesperson said the council is legally obliged to fund and pay pensions, and that the average annual pension payment made to retired North Yorkshire Council staff is £4,213.77 per year.
The council did not make any further comment.
Pension scheme can mitigate lower pay, LGA says
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils, also commented on the figures.
A spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) can help encourage people to develop a career in local government. With pay often lower in local government than comparable private sector roles, the LGPS can mitigate that while occupational pensions, like the LGPS, can help public sector workers avoid needing welfare benefits in retirement.
The LGPS is the most robust public sector pension scheme. Compared with other major public sector pension schemes, the employer contribution rates in the LGPS are also generally much lower.
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