Well it is good news that the Government are redrafting the LGPS Regulations to restore (with some caveats) entitlement to an unreduced pension if dismissed on redundancy grounds above age 55 (age 50 for current scheme members until 2010). As to the caveats, we shall wait and see...
This gratuitous assault upon the rights of older workers facing redundancy was an outrage. It was also an outrage which had not been sought by the employers. If we allow the withdrawal of this recent outrage to become justification for settling for a deal which fails to protect the pension rights of all scheme members we will be letting down the man who rightly said that;
“Members of every other public-sector pension scheme have had their pension contract honoured - why should local government workers be treated any differently? Teachers' contracts honoured but not teaching assistants; police but not police staff; civil servants but not dustmen; and social workers that work in hospitals but not those social workers who work for councils.”
The deal offered at the Public Services Forum in October 2005 to the other public service schemes was a victory for a firm negotiating position adopted by those who simply weren't prepared to accept the "compromise" of protection for those who would turn 60 by 2018 when others were prepared to settle for that.
Let’s hear who says what at the Special Conference…
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