Former presiding officer to donate £21,000-a-year pension to charity

Alex Fergusson, the presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament who stood down at the election, will donate the proceeds of his pension to charity, he announced yesterday.

Mr Fergusson was due to receive more than 21,000 a year on top of his MSP salary after being re-elected this month.

He acknowledged there was an expectation that presiding officers would leave politics after stepping down.

He said: "I therefore do not intend to benefit from my pension while I am earning an MSP salary.

"However, I see no point in the money sitting in a pension fund to the sole benefit of the fund managers when it could be put to good use elsewhere.

"I will therefore be donating my pension to charities within my constituency of Galloway and West Dumfries.

"I am currently working with parliamentary officials on the details of how this will be done through a 'give as you earn scheme' that will be set up by the parliamentary staff, and administered by the Charities Aid Foundation - a mechanism that will ensure that the charities will also receive the tax that would have been payable on the pension income."

It was expected Mr Fergusson would benefit from a non-contributory pension of 21,613 for his role over the past four years. The pension is payable every year for life from the day he stands down. He is also covering the tax himself to ensure the charity gets the full benefit.

Mr Fergusson left his role as presiding officer and was re-elected as a Conservative MSP, entitled to a salary of 57,521.