Question reference: S6W-23939
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 15 December 2023
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Current status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 January 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have opted to take early retirement in each of the last five years, also broken down by (a) whether they were primary or secondary school teachers and (b) local authority area.
Answer
The figures in the following tables represent the number of members of the Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme (STSS) and Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme 2015 (STPS 2015) who have opted to retire before the respective scheme's Normal Pension Age (NPA), in each of the last five years. The information includes only members employed by local authorities and is broken down by local authority area. Information is not held centrally on whether these members were primary or secondary teachers.
From 1 April 2022 all active members joined the STPS 2015. Table A shows members who have retired from the STSS before their NPA, which is age 60 for those who joined the scheme before 1 April 2007 and age 65 for those who joined thereafter. Table B shows members who retired from the STPS 2015 before their NPA, which is the later of age 65 or State Pension Age. Some members may be represented in both tables as they may have taken pension benefits from both schemes before the NPA in each scheme.
Table A: Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme
Local Authority | Number of members who opted to retire before Normal Pension Age | ||||
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023* | |
Aberdeen City Council | 13 | 16 | 9 | 12 | 13 |
Aberdeenshire Council | 30 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 30 |
Angus Council | 12 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 11 |
Argyll and Bute Council | 18 | 13 | 19 | 17 | 10 |
City of Edinburgh Council | 34 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 20 |
Clackmannanshire Council | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
Dumfries and Galloway Council | 28 | 24 | 19 | 16 | 21 |
Dundee City Council | 14 | 9 | 24 | 16 | 13 |
East Ayrshire Council | 10 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
East Dunbartonshire Council | 14 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 6 |
East Lothian Council | 9 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 7 |
East Renfrewshire Council | 11 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 6 |
Falkirk Council | 15 | 24 | 15 | 14 | 11 |
Fife Council | 42 | 37 | 50 | 34 | 27 |
Glasgow City Council | 47 | 60 | 39 | 38 | 30 |
Inverclyde Council | 9 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
Midlothian Council | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
North Ayrshire Council | 15 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 6 |
North Lanarkshire Council | 38 | 49 | 34 | 26 | 23 |
Orkney Islands Council | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
Perth and Kinross Council | 14 | 19 | 24 | 15 | 10 |
Renfrewshire Council | 16 | 20 | 21 | 15 | 8 |
Scottish Borders Council | 10 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 17 |
Shetland Islands Council | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
South Ayrshire Council | 13 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 9 |
South Lanarkshire Council | 33 | 24 | 26 | 20 | 29 |
Stirling Council | 15 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 7 |
The Highland Council | 35 | 27 | 29 | 38 | 22 |
The Moray Council | 14 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 7 |
West Dunbartonshire Council | 5 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 11 |
West Lothian Council | 13 | 18 | 11 | 22 | 8 |
Total | 548 | 522 | 514 | 497 | 403 |
*Data for 2023 is up to 19 December 2023
Table B: Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme 2015
Local Authority | Number of members who opted to retire before Normal Pension Age | ||||
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023* | |
Aberdeen City Council | 2 | 8 | 7 | 25 | 31 |
Aberdeenshire Council | 14 | 8 | 13 | 55 | 58 |
Angus Council | 1 | 4 | 9 | 34 | 19 |
Argyll and Bute Council | 3 | 7 | 13 | 30 | 14 |
City of Edinburgh Council | 6 | 8 | 17 | 54 | 43 |
Clackmannanshire Council | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
Dumfries and Galloway Council | 10 | 16 | 18 | 32 | 36 |
Dundee City Council | 2 | 2 | 17 | 29 | 22 |
East Ayrshire Council | 1 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 23 |
East Dunbartonshire Council | 3 | 10 | 3 | 24 | 18 |
East Lothian Council | 4 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 15 |
East Renfrewshire Council | 0 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 10 |
Falkirk Council | 5 | 10 | 14 | 26 | 23 |
Fife Council | 11 | 11 | 34 | 68 | 65 |
Glasgow City Council | 5 | 21 | 27 | 92 | 88 |
Inverclyde Council | 7 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 16 |
Midlothian Council | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
North Ayrshire Council | 4 | 4 | 9 | 35 | 23 |
North Lanarkshire Council | 8 | 22 | 23 | 47 | 60 |
Orkney Islands Council | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
Perth and Kinross Council | 5 | 10 | 19 | 26 | 30 |
Renfrewshire Council | 2 | 14 | 16 | 32 | 30 |
Scottish Borders Council | 2 | 6 | 16 | 39 | 34 |
Shetland Islands Council | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 17 |
South Ayrshire Council | 5 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 16 |
South Lanarkshire Council | 5 | 5 | 13 | 65 | 61 |
Stirling Council | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 17 |
The Highland Council | 5 | 10 | 21 | 63 | 50 |
The Moray Council | 3 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 22 |
West Dunbartonshire Council | 1 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 26 |
West Lothian Council | 5 | 7 | 6 | 37 | 31 |
Total | 129 | 222 | 369 | 984 | 935 |
*Data for 2023 is up to 19 December 2023
Source: Figures provided by SPPA