Dai Hudd, Prospect’s Deputy General Secretary, said: “This report is particularly welcome because it provides authoritative estimates of the long-term cost of the schemes.

“It confirms that the major reforms of these schemes carried out in 2007 and 2008 have already put public service pension provision on a sustainable footing.

Any discussions on public service pension reform arising out of the Hutton report will need to acknowledge this starting point.”

The PAC report confirms that reforms to public service pension schemes, negotiated by the last government, “will bring substantial savings in taxpayer costs worth £67 billion”. Total costs are projected to stabilise at around 1% of GDP.