Union seeks legal ruling over changes to LGPS

9 Mar 06
Unison has requested a judicial review of the government's proposed amendments to the Local Government Pension Scheme, saying its figures and reasoning are 'flawed' and 'absurd'.

10 March 2006

Unison has requested a judicial review of the government's proposed amendments to the Local Government Pension Scheme, saying its figures and reasoning are 'flawed' and 'absurd'.

The union has asked the courts to examine the figures published by the government on raising the scheme's earliest retirement age from 60 to 65 on October 1.

It is also querying the government's view that the change is necessary in order to comply with European Union law.

The figures have been used by local government employers to argue that protection arrangements can be only offered to existing scheme members who are due to retire before 2013.

Unison and eight other unions are demanding lifetime protection for existing members, which they say is no more than has been afforded to members of other public sector pension schemes. Their own figures suggest such arrangements would not cost council taxpayers extra.

General secretary Dave Prentis said: 'We want to expose the incorrect financial information on which the government has based its decision to single out for unfair treatment some of the lowest-paid workers in the country.'

The year-long dispute has centred on the government's intention to remove the so-called 85-year rule, under which scheme members whose age plus years in service reaches 85 can retire at 60 without reductions to their accrued benefits.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minster has said the 'central tenet' of its objection to the rule is that it breaches an EU directive on age discrimination which is due to become UK law in October this year. Unison rejects this.

In a statement prepared for a CIPFA London Division seminar on March 8, Terry Crossley, head of the LGPS division at the ODPM, said: 'Some continuation of the [rule] beyond October 1 can be objectively justified for those existing scheme members closest to retirement.

'However, broadening the protection… for the lifetime of all other existing scheme members cannot be objectively justified.'

Unison is balloting its 1 million local government members for strike action.

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