Councillors warn on pension change cost

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.

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.