Will Lord Hutton recommend changes to the public sector pension set up?
Lord Hutton, the former Labour cabinet minister, is currently looking into the public sector pension set up in the UK amid speculation he is set to recommend major changes. It is believed that the report, which is due soon, will suggest that a new formula should be found to bring public sector pension arrangements more into line with those in the private sector. This has been something of a bugbear of the UK population for some time with the gap between private sector pension payments and public sector pension payments widening over recent years.
This would be the perfect excuse that the coalition authorities require to bring about a major change in the pension arrangements for public sector workers. However, it would also put the government in direct conflict with the unions who have already tried to flex their muscles with regards to pension fund arrangements across many areas of the public sector. There is no doubt that public sector pensions are costing UK taxpayers billions of pounds a year with the vast majority of council taxes apparently being spent on funding never ending increases in pension fund arrangements for public sector workers. This could be a major battle for the UK government but it is one which needs to be won!
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