Local government pensions are affordable and sustainable

4 March 2010

The Taxpayers' Alliance scaremongering has picked old snapshot figures at a market low point to try to paint a bleak picture to fabricate £53 billion deficit

GMB union has spoken out strongly in support of local government pensions and against the deliberate misinformation and fabrication peddled by the right wing Taxpayers' Alliance in a document to be published tomorrow.

Brian Strutton GMB national secretary for Public Services said "The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) has over £100 billions in the bank, enough to pay pensions for another 20 years. It has a positive cash flow of £4 billions per annum to meet current projections of potential deficits over the long term. There is no crisis and no need to panic. We need to reject “conservatives” scaremongering undermining the tradition of thrift which sees millions of working people putting aside savings each month to fund their retirement.

The LGPS provides pensions for 4 million people who on average get a pension of around £4,000 per annum, so not gold plated. It's a good scheme and a necessary one, otherwise many of these low paid workers would be on state benefits in retirement.

The Taxpayers' Alliance has picked old, snapshot figures at a market low point to try to paint a bleak picture. They are wrong and the figure is a fabrication. There isn't a £53 billions black hole and the LGPS doesn't cost council tax payers 1 in 5 of their council tax pounds. It's around 1 in 20. Projected future deficits are a lot less than £53b and won't arise for many years during which it can be met without any tax increases.

Most of the deficits arise from past underfunding so it's owed to the 4m scheme members - no amount of reform will change that because you can't reform the past. The future is affordable and sustainable"

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