Many BBC World Service employees are members of the BBC Pension Scheme, which provides salary-related pension benefits on a defined benefit basis from assets held in separate, trustee-administered funds. The scheme is subject to independent valuation by a professionally qualified actuary at least every three years, on the basis of which the actuary certifies the rate of employer’s contributions. These, together with the specified contributions payable by employees and proceeds from the scheme’s assets, are expected to be sufficient to fund the benefits payable under the scheme. The most recent full actuarial valuation of the scheme was prepared as at 1 April 1999 by Watson Wyatt, consulting actuaries, using the projected unit method. The pension charge for the year derives from this full actuarial valuation following Statement of Standard Accounting Practice 24 (SSAP 24).
 
At 1 April 1999, the market value of the assets of the scheme was £6,294 million and the actuarial value of the assets was sufficient to cover 114% of the benefits due to members, after allowing for expected future increases in earnings. The scheme surplus is being amortised over 12 years, the expected average remaining service life of the employees.
 
The BBC World Service pension charge for the year for this scheme is £2.8 million (2000 £2.7 million), which derives from an effective accounting contribution rate of 10.4% of pensionable salaries. Both BBC World Service and employees continue to contribute at a cash rate of 4.5% of pensionable earnings. The scheme continues to benefit from full tax relief under the Inland Revenue guidelines.
 
An amount of £0.3 million is included in provisions which represents the excess of the cumulative pension cost over the cumulative contributions paid (2000 £1.2 million prepayment).
 
A new accounting standard, FRS 17: Retirement Benefits, is being introduced which changes the method by which pension information is calculated and presented in financial statements. BBC World Service will take advantage of the provisions included within FRS 17 and account for the BBC Pension Scheme as if it were a defined contribution scheme. This is because it is not possible to identify the share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme relating to BBC World Service on a consistent and reliable basis. The pension charge under FRS 17 will therefore represent the contributions payable in the year. These contributions will benefit from the surplus in the scheme and accordingly will be lower than the regular cost. The surplus in the scheme for the BBC group at 31 March 2001 was £1,708 million. Additional disclosure is provided in the BBC group accounts.
 

BBC World Service made payments of £0.6 million in the year (2000 £0.6 million) into the Group Personal Pension Scheme and other schemes.