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Pensions Update March 2011
Government will use Hutton report
to raid our pensions
The long awaited report by Lord
Hutton on public service pension schemes was
published on 11th March. As expected he is recommending
long term structural reform of the pension schemes
that more than one in four Scots depend on.
The Chancellor's decision to use
Lord Hutton's report as cover for 50% contribution
increases has fatally undermined his recommendations.
The £375m raised from Scottish
public service workers will go straight into
the Treasury - not the pension schemes. This
is little more than a tax on scheme members
and will result in further opt-outs from the
scheme, placing new burdens on welfare benefits.
This is an attack on one of our
most important terms and conditions. It is vital
that we are well organised at all levels. We
need to build our strength to defend our pensions
from branch level up, and ensure all our members
understand the impact of changes to our pension
schemes.
 General
Secretary, Dave Prentis, has summed up UNISON's
reaction: "Whatever the Hutton report may say
about fairness, the Government will use it as
a Trojan horse to raid the pensions of hard
working public sector workers. Pensions that
our members have paid into year in year out
and which are fair and affordable.
"In fact, even before the report
today, the Government announced they were increasing
employee contributions by 50%. There is a lot
of nonsense talked about public sector pensions
- they are not gold plated. The average is very
low - in local government, the average is just
over £4,000, falling to £2,800 for women. Asking
workers to work longer for less is simply not
an option.
"We want to talk to the Government
about their response as a matter of urgency.
But I am sending out a clear message to our
1.4 million members warning them that industrial
action is now one big step closer."
Scottish Pensions Meeting
The next meeting for UNISON branches
will be held on Wednesday 30 March 2011 and
will focus on the final Hutton Report and the
implications for both the Scottish LGPS and
NHS schemes. It is expected that there will
be some indication of how the UK government
proposes to implement the Hutton Report in the
UK budget on 23 March.
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