Government Actuary's Department
Encyclopedia
The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for providing actuarial advice to public sector
clients.
It describes itself as providing "Actuarial analysis - For the public sector - From the public sector".
The services GAD provides are:
. As the role of the Chief Actuary expanded the post of Government Actuary was created in 1917. Two years later the Government Actuary’s Department was formed.
The role of GAD within government expanded significantly in the 1940s and 1950s, coinciding with an expansion of the state’s role in pensions, social security and health care. By the 1980s GAD had grown into a significant actuarial consultancy within government and in 1989 the financing of GAD through an annual Parliamentary vote of funds was replaced by a system of directly charging users of GAD’s services. The calculation of GAD's fees is based solely on the recovery of its costs.
Today, GAD has offices in London and Edinburgh and employs 140 staff of whom 50 are qualified actuaries.
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
clients.
It describes itself as providing "Actuarial analysis - For the public sector - From the public sector".
The services GAD provides are:
- Actuarial valuations and advice for public sector pensionPensionIn general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
schemes; - Advice to the Government on occupational pension schemes and on private pensions policy;
- Advice on the pension aspects of staff transfers from the public sector;
- Advice to the UK government and overseas organisations on their social securitySocial securitySocial security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
arrangements and actuarial reviews of the National Insurance fund; - Advice on investment-related issues including investment risk management strategies, and on project and enterprise risk;
- Advice to overseas insurance supervisors, and
- Other actuarial and statistical advice on areas, including statistical analysis, healthcare financing and actuarial training.
History
In 1912 the Government appointed a chief actuary to the National Health Insurance Joint Committee, following the Old Age Pensions Act 1908 and the National Insurance Act 1911National Insurance Act 1911
The National Insurance Act 1911 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act is often regarded as one of the foundations of modern social welfare in the United Kingdom and forms part of the wider social welfare reforms of the Liberal Government of 1906-1914...
. As the role of the Chief Actuary expanded the post of Government Actuary was created in 1917. Two years later the Government Actuary’s Department was formed.
The role of GAD within government expanded significantly in the 1940s and 1950s, coinciding with an expansion of the state’s role in pensions, social security and health care. By the 1980s GAD had grown into a significant actuarial consultancy within government and in 1989 the financing of GAD through an annual Parliamentary vote of funds was replaced by a system of directly charging users of GAD’s services. The calculation of GAD's fees is based solely on the recovery of its costs.
Today, GAD has offices in London and Edinburgh and employs 140 staff of whom 50 are qualified actuaries.
Government actuaries
- May 1917 – May 1936: Sir Alfred Watson KCBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
- May 1936 – Nov 1944: Sir George Epps KBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
- Dec 1944 – Aug 1946: Sir Percy Harvey KBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath... - Aug 1946 – Mar 1958: Sir George Maddex KBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
- Apr 1958 – Apr 1973: Sir Herbert Tetley KBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath... - May 1973 – Apr 1989: Sir Edward Johnston KBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath... - Apr 1989 – Oct 2007: Christopher DaykinChristopher DaykinChristopher Daykin CB is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and was the Government Actuary for the United Kingdom from 1989 to 2007....
CBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath... - May 2008 – Present : Trevor Llanwarne