By Chris Mellor
John Lowe, in particular, and Preston Colville seek for the Examiner to disseminate the truth and encourage reasoned debate on public sector pensions (BE Letters May 29). Both fail badly at the first hurdle in this regard by being sparing and misleading with the full truth.
Mr Lowe fails to point out that public sector employees can retire on a pension PLUS a tax free cash lump sum equal to three-eightieths of final salary for each year’s contributions. Broadly accepted to be the overall equivalent of a pension equating to two thirds of final salary for a forty year working period. I see little relevance in Mr Lowe pointing out that there is a cap on service at 45 years. Work 45 years and a public sector employee gets a full pension !
He infers that he is financially penalised for seeking to retire early at age 50. OF COURSE HE SHOULD BE. He has retired with 15 years less contributions in his pension scheme and 15 years of extra longevity during which he expects to be paid his pension. He cannot have his cake and eat it.
Turning to Mr Colville who fills his letter with facts to kill his own argument. He says that public sector employees are low paid with many receiving no salary increase this year. So what ? Many private sector workers are in exactly the same position. Low paid, no salary rise. No difference there then.
He states 25% of public sector workers claim state benefits. Many private sector workers claim benefits so again, no difference there. In fact, only 25% when we are told by Government that 50% of all workers claim some degree of state handout ?
Now his pièce de résistance. He infers that The Civil Service, a public body funded by the tax payer, has a Pension Scheme with 23% of the Departments pay budget going into the pension scheme. 23%, all tax payers money ! How many private sector employees have that level of contribution paid by the employer ? Most have zero, the lucky ones maybe 5% and the really lucky ones perhaps 10% of salary.
Mr Baker then tells us in millions of pounds how much civil servants pay directly out of their wages into the pension scheme. Again so what ! Many private sector employees pay into their pension schemes also.
What is abhorrently misleading is that he expresses one figure as a percentage and the other in millions of pounds. Why, because the former is so enormous that the figure what leave readers shaken to the core.
Putting it another way, just what is the exact liability for our unfunded public sector pension schemes. The last published estimate was £530 billion, but actuaries are saying that it should be more like £960 billion! That’s a tab of about £33,000 for each and every one of the 29 million of us in the workforce to pick up. (Source : National Statistics, Labour Market Statistics, November 2007). Now that is a lot of tax payer’s money. Each and every one of us could start our own pension with that, not someone else’s.
He again harks on about Civil Service wages against those of the private sector. Not an argument as the private sector contains many lowly paid workers. By equal contrast what of all the highly paid pointless Heads of Departments, Leaders of Councils, etc in the public sector ? Many earning over six figure salaries paid for by the tax payer. They are not lowly paid at the tax payers expense.
Reference to scandals is misleading but if Mr Colville is going to throw mud what about the scandals in the public sector ? For example, Health Chiefs who are sacked for administering filthy and unhealthy hospitals in which patients die and then they have the affront to demand severance pay for failure, all at the tax payers expense. That’s the pot calling the kettle black to be sure.
Mr Colville asks others not to peddle popular myths. Well if he wants such a playing field and wishes it to be level then he should either present an equal balanced argument or allow others to do so.
What do you think? Leave your comments below.
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