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Councillors warn on pension change cost

Posted: 28 April 2005 | Subscribe Online


The Local Government Association has warned that councils could be left £100m short when changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme are revoked.

The changes came into force in England and Wales on 1 April but will be revoked retrospectively at the “earliest parliamentary opportunity”, according to the agreement set out by deputy prime minister John Prescott last month to avert strike action in councils.

The changes include increasing the minimum pension age for local government workers from 50 to 55 for reasons other than ill health, and raising the retirement age from 60 to 65, except in cases of ill health or redundancy.

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But Unison, one of the five unions that fought to get the changes revoked, dismissed the £100m figure as “wildly inaccurate”, insisting that costs would be “marginal”.

The first round of talks following the government’s climb-down over reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme was held last week, and a special public service forum will be held after the election.



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