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GOVERNMENT
CHANGES TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION WILL COST TAXPAYERS
TWO BILLION POUNDS, SAYS LATEST SURVEY |
15/02/2006 |
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A new survey released
today by the New Policy Institute says the Government
would be worse off by £2 billion every year if the Local
Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) did not exist that is
twice as much as the scheme pays out.
The findings come as UNISON and nine other unions fight
to make the Government and the Local Government
Association see sense over their proposed changes to the
85 Rule, which currently enables LGPS members to retire
at 60 with a full pension if their service and age add
up to 85.
UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said the survey
results saw through the costs of the Scheme that have
been claimed by the Government: ³Less than 3p in the
pound goes towards making sure council workers receive a
pension in retirement and those same workers pay 6p in
the pound to save for their pensions.
³Weıre not in fat cat pension land here. The average
LGPS pension for women is £31 a week. Over half of the
LGPS members work part time, most are women, and all
have been doing exactly what the Government told them to
do saving for their retirement so they arenıt wholly
dependent on the State.
³Anyone working in public services knows that you donıt
go into the job for the big bucks. There are no fat
bonuses or perks, in fact not much financial reward for
a lifetime of dedication. However, the one thing that
workers could rely on was their pension. They paid in
their 6% year in year out knowing that when they retired
their pension would be waiting.
³Now those councils who took pension holidays in the
eighties and nineties are trying to hide their financial
mismanagement by forcing some of the most poorly paid
people in the country to cough up the difference.
³In a recent UNISON survey of all local councils, Kent
had the biggest deficit because it took the biggest
pension holidays and now itıs looking for an easy way
out. But frankly even Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Tory
leader of the LGA and recent leader of Kent County
Council, admits that a mere 3% of his councilıs income
goes to providing a pension for his workforce.
³Donıt blame the workers who did the right thing and
then expect to sell them down the river. Look for a
sensible and practical solution that protects the rights
of LGPS members now and into the future.²
ends
Notes for editors:
* 73% of LGPS members are women
* Nearly 60% of them work part-time
* Women's average LGPS pension is just £31 a week. As a
comparison, Sir David Henshaw, Chief Executive of
Liverpool City Council, took early retirement recently
as so he could scoop a £340,000 payoff and avoid a
£200,000 tax bill on his pension.
* 75% of all LGPS pensions are under £96 a week |
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