Local government pension deal set to be approved today

19 Dec 11
Unions and the government are likely to agree changes to local government pensions today, but deals on other public sector pension schemes will be ‘pretty difficult’ to achieve before Whitehall’s afternoon deadline.

By Richard Johnstone | 19 December 2011

Unions and the government are likely to agree changes to local government pensions today, but deals on other public sector pension schemes will be ‘pretty difficult’ to achieve before Whitehall’s afternoon deadline.

Brian Strutton, the GMB union’s national secretary for public services, who has been involved in the negotiations, told Public Finance that the local government deal now needs only the approval of the Department for Communities and Local Government. This could be ‘formalised’ today, he said.

‘There’s certainly a position between the unions and the Local Government Association. We are hoping that that will be approved by the government,’ he said.

Ministers have been attempting to make a number of changes to public sector pensions, which they say are necessary to make them sustainable. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has called for a deal to be reached by the end of the year, and unions have said they require a decision from all negotiations by 3pm today. As well as workers in local government, these cover NHS staff, teachers and civil servants. Alexander is expected to update the House of Commons tomorrow.

The changes proposed include a later retirement age and a move from final salary to career-average schemes.

Strutton said that the negotiations covering the pensions for NHS staff and teachers remain ‘pretty difficult’, with talks continuing today.

‘Across the main schemes, the government is approaching things on a scheme-by-scheme basis, and what’s being put in front of them in each has a very different look to it, with very different language used.

‘Today, there still discussions going on to finish things across teachers, civil service and health.’

A spokesman for the DCLG said that discussions were continuing and that Parliament would be updated tomorrow.

The unions who took part in the national strike on November 30 will also meet this afternoon to update each other on the government’s proposals across the four sectors.

Since the industrial action, there have been scheme-by-scheme talks, but none of the overarching meetings between ministers and the Trades Union Congress on the framework for reforms.

A spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services union told PF that he saw ‘no possibility’ of a civil service deal by today’s deadline, which he said was ‘ludicrous given where we are with the negotiations’.

He said: ‘We are no further on than [we were] on November 30.’

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka has warned that more industrial action was likely be called in the dispute.

He said: ‘We have always been committed to negotiations, so it is totally unacceptable for the government to now try to bully their staff into accepting cuts that will mean the loss of tens of thousands of pounds for many people.’

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