GDPs’ pensions not affected by Hutton report
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- Published: Thursday, 10 March 2011 13:49
- Written by News Editor
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Former Labour minister, Lord Hutton, has published his final report with its main recommendation is that public sector pensions should no longer be related to final salaries. Instead, by 2015 pensions should be related to average salaries over a career. This is the way in which NHS pensions of general dental practitioners are calculated so they should not be affected by the proposals. |
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Elsewhere in the public sector, however, millions of workers will have to work longer for lower pensions, the report says. Lord Hutton’s public services pensions commission has been looking at the large pension schemes covering civil servants, the NHS, teachers, local government staff, the police, armed forces and the fire service.
He argued that his changes amounted to ‘comprehensive reform’ which would make the schemes ‘sustainable and affordable in the future’ under the pressure of rapidly rising life expectancy.
“These proposals aim to strike a balanced deal between public service workers and the taxpayer,” Lord Hutton said, “They will ensure that public service workers continue to have access to good pensions, while taxpayers benefit from greater control over their costs. Pensions based on career average earnings will be fairer to the majority of members that do not have the high salary growth rewarded in final-salary schemes”.
Lord Hutton stressed that pensions earned so far should retain their link with final salaries. However Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison union, said: “This will be just one more attack on innocent public sector workers who are being expected to pay the price of the deficit, while the bankers who caused it continue to enjoy bumper pay and bonuses. On top of a pay freeze, and the threat of redundancy, they now face a pensions raid. This brings the threat of industrial action closer.”
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