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Nobody wishes to begrudge the public sector workers a comfortable and secure retirement. However when they are able to retire at 60, or earlier, when the rest of the population (who in many cases have seen their own retirement plans devastated) have to work until they are 68, the situation is clearly unsustainable. Every family in the country is paying £880 annually to fund public sector pensions.
The average pension payed to a retired public sector worker in 2009 was £7,388,
Plus a lump sum averaging £34,392. In the private sector, for the minority who get a defined contribution pension the figure was £1,883
11% of private sector workers are on final salary schemes
100% of public sector workers are.
Since Labour came to power in 1997 over 600,000 extra public sector staff have been recruitedThe Guardian recently carried pages of recruitment ads for the public sector with salaries up to £150,000. Apparently middle rank salaries in the sector now exceed those in industry by a little under £10,000. Average salaries are now 7% higher than the private sector.
Haringey Council, in answer to a survey, said they had 4 staff on salaries of over £100,000. It turned out they actually had seventeen.
The civil service unions are considering taking strike action because the government want to cut civil service redundancy pay from three years salary to two.
In the private sector statutory redundancy pay is 12 weeks pay if you are under 41 and 21 weeks pay if you are over with a maximum weekly sum of £380.
What government is going to bite the bullet and stop this scandalous state of affairs? Certainly not Labour who dare not upset their union paymasters.
Perhaps the answer is a general strike.
Have your say pensions@turning-worm.com
The average pension payed to a retired public sector worker in 2009 was £7,388,
Plus a lump sum averaging £34,392. In the private sector, for the minority who get a defined contribution pension the figure was £1,883
11% of private sector workers are on final salary schemes
100% of public sector workers are.
Since Labour came to power in 1997 over 600,000 extra public sector staff have been recruitedThe Guardian recently carried pages of recruitment ads for the public sector with salaries up to £150,000. Apparently middle rank salaries in the sector now exceed those in industry by a little under £10,000. Average salaries are now 7% higher than the private sector.
Haringey Council, in answer to a survey, said they had 4 staff on salaries of over £100,000. It turned out they actually had seventeen.
The civil service unions are considering taking strike action because the government want to cut civil service redundancy pay from three years salary to two.
In the private sector statutory redundancy pay is 12 weeks pay if you are under 41 and 21 weeks pay if you are over with a maximum weekly sum of £380.
What government is going to bite the bullet and stop this scandalous state of affairs? Certainly not Labour who dare not upset their union paymasters.
Perhaps the answer is a general strike.
Have your say pensions@turning-
Pensions - in Cloud Cuckoo Land
I have pointed out in the past the apartheid that has developed between the public and private sectors when it comes to pension arrangements. This has now been brought sharply into focus by a recent report by The National Audit Office. It states that the cost of providing pensions to the four largest public sector schemes -teachers, NHS, civil servants and the Armed Forces - was £14.9 bn
In 2008-9. That equates to a cost of £516 p.a. to the average worker. Vastly more than they are paying for their own privately funded pensions.
When you add the rest of the state workforce the figure rises to £25.4 bn or £880 per annum for the average worker.
In addition to being able to retire at age 60 or earlier, they are also entiltled to receive a lump sum. In the case of the Police this is four times the annual pension, this means that they get back practically the whole of their 9.5% of salary contributions so their pension is in effect 100% taxpayer funded.
The shortfall in the public sector could cost taxpayers upwards of £30 bn a year over thirty years to fund. Equivalent to at least 3p on the basic rate income tax. These comparatively lavish, inflation proof, pension arrangements are totally divorced from economic reality.
The £120 bn deficit in the private sector is almost entirely due to the £5 billion a year raid on pension funds by Gordon Brown when Labour came to power in 1997. He was apparently warned at the time of the devastating effect this might have. He went ahead regardless and has destroyed a system that was the envy of Europe.
At the same time the government are refusing to help the 85,000 people in the private sector who have lost their pensions due to company closures; even though they were persuaded to join by the government. Apparently the cost of around £500,000 per year over thirty years is too high.
I have pointed out in the past the apartheid that has developed between the public and private sectors when it comes to pension arrangements. This has now been brought sharply into focus by a recent report by The National Audit Office. It states that the cost of providing pensions to the four largest public sector schemes -
When you add the rest of the state workforce the figure rises to £25.4 bn or £880 per annum for the average worker.
In addition to being able to retire at age 60 or earlier, they are also entiltled to receive a lump sum. In the case of the Police this is four times the annual pension, this means that they get back practically the whole of their 9.5% of salary contributions so their pension is in effect 100% taxpayer funded.
The shortfall in the public sector could cost taxpayers upwards of £30 bn a year over thirty years to fund. Equivalent to at least 3p on the basic rate income tax. These comparatively lavish, inflation proof, pension arrangements are totally divorced from economic reality.
The £120 bn deficit in the private sector is almost entirely due to the £5 billion a year raid on pension funds by Gordon Brown when Labour came to power in 1997. He was apparently warned at the time of the devastating effect this might have. He went ahead regardless and has destroyed a system that was the envy of Europe.
At the same time the government are refusing to help the 85,000 people in the private sector who have lost their pensions due to company closures; even though they were persuaded to join by the government. Apparently the cost of around £500,000 per year over thirty years is too high.