Pensions bill will “entrench unfairness” claims BMA

Health unions have dubbed the Public Service Pensions Bill, published last week, “unfair” and accused the government of “steamrollering” it through despite widespread opposition.

The government forecasts that the legislation will save the tax payer £65bn over the next 50 years and almost halve the cost of pensions in the public sector.

As a result of the bill, most public sector workers will have to work for longer and stump up more for their pensions. The first tier of increased contributions, which the government estimates will save almost £3bn by 2014-15, started in April.

Mark Porter, Chair of BMA Council, claimed that the bill “would entrench unfairness,” pointing out that some healthcare workers will pay two thirds of the cost of their pension benefits by 2014-15, while the highest earning civil servants will pay a maximum of around a quarter of theirs.

“Demanding the same savings of all public sector schemes across the board is also unfair,” he said. “The most senior NHS staff are being hit especially hard, taking on higher contribution levels that are hugely disproportionate to their earnings.”

The BMA remains concerned about the plans to raise the pension age to 68 for NHS employees, he said.

“Work in the NHS is often physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding, and some staff will not feel able to work effectively beyond the age of 65,” he insisted.

“We will be seeking to propose affordable ways in which the changes can be made fairer, both now and in the longer term,” he said.

Health union Unite’s assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail, said that the bill was “being steamrollered through.”

She added: “Ministers have dressed up their statements to give the impression that their plans for public sector pensions have been universally agreed by the respective workforces. This is simply not true.” The union would continue to fight the changes, she said.

But chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, insisted that the bill would ensure “that public sector workers, rightly, continue to receive pensions amongst the very best available.”

He added: “This is a good deal for taxpayers and a good deal for public service workers: a settlement for a generation.”

The bill’s second reading in the House of Commons is on October 22.