A guide to Civil Service pensions

Like other nations, government workers in the United Kingdom (UK) help state leaders in implementing policies and programs. For their services, they are given a package of pay and rewards, including pensions. Know more about the UK's Civil Service pensions in this article.

Civil Service in the UK - A brief history

Prior to the 1850s, the UK government had "staff mainly through political or aristocratic patronage rather than by merit, had a poor reputation and no unity of purpose." However, when Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone assigned Stafford Northcote and Charles Trevelyan "to look into the operation and organisation of the entire Civil Service" in 1853, conditions at the state bureaucracy were about to change. Northcote and Trevelyan's recommendations to Gladstone emphasised the need to recruit and promote state workers based on merit, "...not on the grounds of ‘preferment, patronage or purchase’." They also vouched for the need to: (1) conduct "open, competitive examinations", (2) "allow inter-departmental transfers", and (3) institute "a hierarchical structure of classes and grades". These standards paved the way for the modern Civil Service, beginning in 1855 when the Civil Service Commissioners was born. The aim and values of Civil Service According to Sir Gus O'Donnell, current head of the Home Civil Service, the primary objective of his organisation is "to provide high-quality advice and support to the Government and help deliver world-class public services..." He also stresses that all civil servants have to be honest and objective. They also need to exhibit the values of integrity and impartiality while performing their respective tasks.

Working for the UK government - Civil Service benefits and privileges

Civil or public servants play an important role in operating state departments and offices. In return, the government provides them with a set of cash and non-cash rewards. However, unlike law enforcers, public school teachers, and health workers who "are subject to national pay bargaining arrangements", each "department and agency" under the Home Civil Service "...negotiates pay for its own staff." This particular remuneration though, is based on "individual performance", a standard similarly adopted in other organisations of the UK government. Civil Service pensions - Basic information Pensions are usually described as "retirement income". The UK government provides its employees with mandated pension arrangements. These are integral to the "total pay and reward package" they receive as public servants. The Cabinet Office manages these pensions in cooperation with representatives from the Governance Group and the Council of Civil Service Unions. Types of pension schemes The UK Civil Service provides nuvos, a benefit pension for most new civil servants. Another option is partnership, a form of personal pension. Usually, each member and his employing agency contribute a certain amount to this retirement fund. Visit Civilservice.gov.uk for further information about these pensions.