Biscuitman

Pension stats just released by ONS for 2004.

Good News.

Private sector provision and personal pensions now total:-

£1,630,000,000,000.

Bad news.

Unfunded public sector liabilities now:-

Teachers :£113 billion
NHS, (Eng & Wales): £104 billion.
Civil Service: £79 Billion.
Armed Forces £64 Billion.

Total:-

£460,000,000,000 - and thats to be paid from our taxes.

These public sector amounts exclude council pensions which are funded, or rather underfunded - either way we pay for them through our Council Taxes as well. I don't think there is a collated figure for them - I'll have a shufty around DWP & Prescott's departments see if I can find them.

__________________
IF THE EU WAS THE ANSWER, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A STUPID QUESTION!

Biscuitman

Scotland on Sunday Sun 13 Nov 2005
Public sector staff 'will have to plug £2bn pensions gap'
TERESA HUNTER PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR

HUNDREDS of thousands of teachers, nurses and civil servants are faced with
higher pension bills to fill a £2bn public sector black hole.

A report from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) shows that the government's
failure to raise the retirement age to 65 has left the pension pot short of
£2bn.

It says public sector workers will now have to either increase pension
contributions, have benefits cut or work longer.

The government hoped to slice £13bn off the public sector pensions bill by
forcing public sector workers to work until 65.

Alan Johnson, the Trade and Industry Secretary, stressed that the overall bill
would still fall by £13bn when he announced that a deal had been reached with
the unions, whereby only new recruits would need to work longer.

But according to the PPI, forcing new recruits to work until 65 only shaves
£11bn from the bill, leaving a £2bn black hole.

It says this gap can only be filled by increasing employee contributions,
cutting benefits or making people work longer.

Alison O'Connell, director of the PPI, says in the report, which looked in
detail at three of the largest public sector schemes: NHS, Teachers and Civil
Service: "Assuming the schemes decide not to raise normal pension age to 65 for
existing members, they will have to find their contribution to the remaining
£2bn cost saving.

"They can choose how to do this: by benefit cuts or increased member
contributions. It is possible that some existing members - particularly younger
ones - would prefer a normal pension age of 65 instead of higher member
contributions."

The unions are poised to begin the next wave of negotiations over the final
shape of the new pension arrangements, which will include measures to save this
£2bn.

Alex Flynn, a spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union, which
represents civil servants, said: "The negotiations haven't begun yet, but we
expect them to start before Christmas. We are aware that more savings have to be
made and are awaiting a paper from the Cabinet Office detailing a set of
suggestions."

The National Union of Teachers, however, seemed oblivious to the fact that more
money had to be found. A spokeswoman said: "There are talks planned with the
teachers' superannuation body, but these are all about how our pensions are to
be improved. There is no question of cuts."

A special adviser for Trade Secretary's office told Scotland on Sunday that the
money would be found by failing to make improvements to benefits which had
originally been promised, such as increased accrual and survivor rates.

But pensions experts remain sceptical, not least because some of the proposed
changes, such as improving rights for same sex couples, must go ahead to comply
with EU legislation.

O'Connell said: "That doesn't alter the fact that across the schemes as a whole,
£2bn has to be found."

This was echoed by Stewart Ritchie, a vice-president of the Faculty of
Actuaries, who said: "However you describe it there was one package on the table
which saved £13bn, and now there is a new one that saves £11bn. That leaves a
£2bn gap, and unless the government caves in over this too, then employees will
have to contribute more one way or the other."

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=2236012005

__________________
IF THE EU WAS THE ANSWER, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A STUPID QUESTION!