Is it time to tackle the public sector pensions time bomb?

[Wildcat]

But nobody has said that is likely to happen, have they?

 

The announcements to date have suggested that pension rights which have already been earned will remain unchanged. New pension rights (earned after whenever the law is changed) will be subject to the new rates.

 

As Hutton pointed out since 2005 public sector pensions have devalued by 25%, partly a result of the new schemes 5 years ago but also the removal of their index linking to rpi.

[Wildcat]

At long last, there are now two of us who appear to know what we are talking about. The government/local authority don't usually hold the contributions long enough to do anything other than to pay them out to pensioners, by the way.

 

You still don't get it, if you are only looking at formal contributions. The lower pay for public sector workers is also a part of their contribution.

[ChrisT70]

the review of all public sector pensions should be done fairly as per the new report, and with consultation, not led by the furore of the daily papers blaming the pension schemes for bankrupting the company. As stated, its NOT the fault of the public sector schemes that the private sector pensions are not comparable

 

common sense says tho that a cap on the maximum payout of all final salary schemes to say no more than £50k pa would immediately save a vast amount. who in their right minds would argue that someone who has earned over £100+k pa through their life cant survive on a pension of £50k max pa. and if the retirement ages of all schemes are standardised at 65 that would seem fair, and again save money.

 

however, as per the report out this week, punishing the many people who have paid in for years to a set scheme isnt fair either, and accrued benefits should be retained.

 

not many people have mentioned the BBC which is i believe funded by us via license fees and pays a very generous pension out to the already overpaid bosses within the corporation!

[Wildcat]

A Pension age of 65 is no detriment, I don't see why public sector workers, working beyond 60 should be unable to make contributions towards their retirement

[Wildcat]

not many people have mentioned the BBC which is i believe funded by us via license fees and pays a very generous pension out to the already overpaid bosses within the corporation!

 

That would be the overpaid BBC bosses that are paid a small fraction of what ITV and SKY TV bosses are paid?

[ChrisT70]

the head of the bbc is on £800K plus pa. its hardly shy is it?

the head of the bbc HR dept was defending this recently on TV if you saw it, she earns £300+k thats all. shame really.

 

some of the BIG earners in the BBC will get pensions of over £200k pa and half million pound lump sums, a nurse (for instance) with 40yrs service paying into her scheme will get about £15k pension. both public sector pension schemes, does that seem right to anyone?

[Wildcat]

the head of the bbc is on £800K plus pa. its hardly shy is it?

the head of the bbc HR dept was defending this recently on TV if you saw it, she earns £300+k thats all. shame really.

 

some of the BIG earners in the BBC will get pensions of over £200k pa and half million pound lump sums, a nurse (for instance) with 40yrs service paying into her scheme will get about £15k pension. both public sector pension schemes, does that seem right to anyone?

 

Whilst ITV and SKY bosses are earning salaries in the millions.

 

Does this seem right? Perhaps not, but it has nothing to do with public sector pensions.

[ChrisT70]

Whilst ITV and SKY bosses are earning salaries in the millions.

 

Does this seem right? Perhaps not, but it has nothing to do with public sector pensions.

 

we the license payer are paying for the BBC pensions and pay tho, grossly excessive, without the option not to pay even if you dont watch. if you dont have sky you arent paying toward their admittedly more excessive salaries!

i am against any public sector bosses earning over 200k and getting 100k+ pensions and the same applies to the BBC which we fund thats all.

 

i dont believe however that the average paid public sector employee of which there are many thousands should be penalised with pension cuts to their very modest pension, in addition to pay freeze and job threat, currently the flavour of the month if you believe the papers. I believe the tories are "seizing the moment" to swipe the public sector back to the 80s

[Wildcat]

we the license payer are paying for the BBC pensions and pay tho, grossly excessive, without the option not to pay even if you dont watch. if you dont have sky you arent paying toward their admittedly more excessive salaries!

i am against any public sector bosses earning over 200k and getting 100k+ pensions and the same applies to the BBC which we fund thats all.

 

I can't say I am inclined to defend such high wage packages with much enthusiasm, but the examples you have given are significantly below their private sector counterparts.

 

i dont believe however that the average paid public sector employee of which there are many thousands should be penalised with pension cuts to their very modest pension, in addition to pay freeze and job threat, currently the flavour of the month if you believe the papers. I believe the tories are "seizing the moment" to swipe the public sector back to the 80s

 

If only we were going back to the 80s...That was around the start of when I realised public sector workers were scapegoats for every problem in the country, our rights and pay have been eroded and eroded since then. Morale is at an all time low. I was talking with someone earlier, he earns £44k because of his IT skills, he is looking at jobs on nearly twice that salary being done in the private sector, if his pension is eroded further and with job security out the window with the changes to the compensation scheme, he has no reason to remain in the job he likes doing.

[ChrisT70]

I can't say I am inclined to defend such high wage packages with much enthusiasm, but the examples you have given are significantly below their private sector counterparts.

 

 

 

If only we were going back to the 80s...That was around the start of when I realised public sector workers were scapegoats for every problem in the country, our rights and pay have been eroded and eroded since then. Morale is at an all time low. I was talking with someone earlier, he earns £44k because of his IT skills, he is looking at jobs on nearly twice that salary being done in the private sector, if his pension is eroded further and with job security out the window with the changes to the compensation scheme, he has no reason to remain in the job he likes doing.

 

 

agreed with the last bit. the public sector pay at £200K+ tho is still fantastic money, regardless of if the private sector overpay themselves a lot more. and that then gives the public sector the final salary 50% of what they earned, which in my opinion is why the pension part should be capped at no more than 50k pa, regardless of what their final salary was at retirement. Is it fair that anyone in the public sector should get more than 50k pension when many ps workers will get say 3-8k for their many years? I just think a cap for high earning ps wage earners would massively help reduce the gap in funding without hitting the lower paid pensions. just a thought thats all about a fairer way of limiting the cost of ps pensions..