Taxpayers were overcharged £17bn for gold-plated public sector pensions last year, experts have warned. Treasury figures showed that £59.4bn was paid into public sector pensions during 2025-26, but only £42.4bn was needed to cover the cost of another year's entitlements for staff. There are more than three million public sector pensioners in Britain, all of whom enjoy a guaranteed, inflation-linked payment for life in retirement. Almost all public sector schemes – including those for the NHS, teachers, civil servants and Armed Forces – are unfunded. Each year, the Treasury publishes the cost of adding another 12 months of pension entitlements for current public sector workers.