Taxpayers’ Alliance uses ‘retread’ arguments in local government
pensions’ debate, says Unite
4th March 2010
The Taxpayers’ Alliance is using ‘retread’ arguments in the
debate over local government pensions, Unite, the largest union in
the country, said today (Thursday, 4 March).
The Taxpayers’ Alliance said that councils across the UK had a
combined pension deficit of £53 billion in 2008-09.
Unite’s assistant general secretary for the public sector, Gail
Cartmail, said: ”The claims by the Taxpayers’ Alliance are the same
retread arguments so beloved by right-wing politicians and media
commentators.”
Gail Cartmail said that three keys facts need to be borne in
mind as the public sector pension debate hots up in the run-up to
the general election.
These are:
- that the current level of public sector pension provision is
self-funding i.e. the money needed is covered by the contributions
made by employers and employees. This scheme is not asking for
bail-outs from the government.
- the cost of providing a public sector pension, according to a
report by the Pension Policy Institute, is the same as the cost of
a typical final salary scheme in the private sector.
- the government has negotiated with the trade unions and
agreement reached to raise the retirement age for new entrants for
public sector schemes; to increase average member contributions;
and to cap the increase in government costs.
Unite’s national organiser for the services sector, Peter Allenson,
said that after the new scheme was brought in government ‘very
sensibly’ continued with meeting the trade unions and employers in
the policy review group to ensure that the local government pension
scheme (LGPS) remained good value to the taxpayer, but also enabled
local government to recruit and retain valuable staff.
He added: ”I assume the Taxpayers’ Alliance wants local
government to recruit and retain good people, otherwise it will be
complaining about service provision. The policy review group
continues to work to ensure a sustainable and affordable local
government pensions scheme.”
ENDS
NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS:
For further information, please ring: Gail Cartmail 07768 931
305, Peter Allenson 07980 721 434, Shaun Noble, communications
officer 020 7420 8951 or 07768 693 940
