Will final salary pension schemes ever disappear from the public sector?
Despite repeated warnings from various associations in the UK, it would appear that the UK government is still charging headlong into a potential pension fund nightmare with more and more public sector final salary pension schemes in deficit. Only yesterday we saw the revelation of a £60 billion black hole in local authority pension schemes which UK taxpayers will be forced to bail out. So will final salary pension schemes ever disappear from the public sector?
The problem is, if you worked in the public sector and were part of a final salary pension scheme would you give up this guaranteed pension for the future?
The truth is that the UK government, both national and local authorities, have been overprotective of those in the public sector and indeed invested significant funds into this area. It is no secret that the public sector is by far and away the largest single employer in the UK and set to continue in its vein for some time to come. Despite promises that public sector employment numbers would be cut we see more and more people being moved from department to department and very little in the way of cost reductions. Final salary pension schemes are here to stay in the public sector and the government only has itself to blame!
Share this..
Related stories
UK government extends offshore tax deadline
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have extended the deadline to those who have been "dodging tax" through various offshore investments and bank accounts, from 30 November to 4 January 2010. This has been an issue prominent in the minds of HMRC for some time because the government is well aware there are literally hundreds of thousands of offshore accounts which should have been declared to the UK tax...
Read MoreWhy is George Osborne changing the regulatory environment in the UK yet again?
Last night's announcement that George Osborne has effectively decided to abolish the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is a bitter blow to the regulator which has seen a significant increase in convictions over the last few years. Yet again we see a new government bringing a new regulatory environment with more cost, more confusion and more time needed to bed down these potentially enormous chang...
Read MoreBarclays Bank warns of soft investment markets
Barclays Bank has today warned that the last two months have been the most difficult since the financial crisis of 2008 with its investment banking division experiencing volatile markets and a significant reduction in the number of corporate finance deals on offer. While this will obviously be a concern to investment banks operating in the UK and in Europe many people will feel it is payback time...
Read MoreSocial networks cost UK business £14 billion a year
A report today suggests that social networks such as Twitter and Facebook are costing the UK business arena around £14 billion a year in lost working hours. It is estimated that around 2 million people, 6% of the UK workforce, regularly use social networking sites in worktime with many "logging on" for in excess of one hour per day. While 14% of those questioned believe that using social networki...
Read MoreEU powerhouses set to rubberstamp Greek rescue package
It has been revealed that Germany and France are leading the way with regards to a rescue package for the stricken Greek government. While nothing has yet been confirmed it is believed that a €30 billion package could be rubberstamped in the short term which would stabilise the Greek economy and reduce the potential impact on other EU nations. While officially there has been no word on a...
Read More