Pension reforms: Public sector workers to pay more and retire later

[Hopeless Romantic]

Six million public sector workers are to lose their generous final salary pension schemes and will have to work for up to six years longer under plans to ease the state's £30bn pensions liability.

A government-commissioned report by Lord Hutton, the former Labour pensions secretary, proposes sweeping changes to state pensions that will mean nurses, doctors, teachers, local government and other public sector workers will have to pay more into their pension pots, retire later and many will receive less when they do.

All state employees in the UK will be affected, creating the first legal basis for simultaneous strike action across the unions, who have universally condemned the report.

The Guardian has revealed details of the first co-ordinated strikes, which are already being planned for June.

Hutton told the BBC's Today programme: "I want the system to be fairer; fairer to scheme members themselves and fairer to taxpayers obviously. I want the reforms to address ... the rising cost of these schemes. I want to make sure we can deliver adequate good quality retirement incomes for public servant and on a sustainable basis.

"If we go on along the path we are, which is basically to deny that costs are rising, to deny that there is rising life expectancy, and just assume we can carry on, we are heading for the rocks and I don't want that to happen.

"The solution to this problem is not a race to the bottom, it's not to hack away at the value for public service pensions, it's to manage the risks and costs sensibly and I think the biggest risk by far to the viability of these schemes going forward is rapidly rising life expectancy.

"In dealing with that problem we have a number of choices: we can cut the benefits of pensioners, we can increase the contributions significantly. I think the responsible thing to do is accept that because we are living longer we should work for longer."

more

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/10/pension-reforms-public-sector-hutton

[non sociopath skin]

1. How lucky for Hutton that his conclusions just happen to dovetail nicely ...

... with Conservative Party philosophy.

It means that he'll probably be in line for another lucrative study.

I remember Lord Sankey - who was more honest and independent - being told by Stanley Baldwin in Alan Plater's play, "Close The Coalhouse Door," "Right! That's the last Royal Commission you get out of me!"

The Skin

[Nihil]

2. That should wipe the smile off their faces ...

i.e., waking up to the same gruesome facts that have already struck home
to the rest of the working population.

Next challenge: Get politicians (and ex-politicians) to start living on
the same planet as everyone else.

[non sociopath skin]

3. Like the bankers, you mean?

The Skin

[Nihil]

4. I wish!

They're even higher up the tree than the worthless politicians
and even less likely to respond to anything that we can bring
to bear on them ...