Taxpayers' Alliance uses 'retread' arguments in local government pensions debate, says Unite

4 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 said: '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 LGPS.'

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