Council staff vote for pension reforms

Local authority employers and trade unions have reached emphatic agreement on the new design of the local government pension scheme (LGPS) in Scotland.

It is hoped the change to a career average valuation plan will ensure that those at the lowest end of the pay scale, and particularly female employees, will benefit from a fairer and sustainable pension.

Scotland’s councils are one of Scotland’s largest employers, with over 280,000 staff.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) said the new scheme will go a significant way to ensure that those employees can make a decent provision for their retirement.

COSLA leaders approved the new plan in September and now UNISON has confirmed they received a positive a 94 per cent response to the ballot on the issue.

Councillor Kevin Keenan, COSLA’s finance spokesman, said: “Whilst we felt we already had a sustainable and fair local government pension scheme in Scotland, the reform process did offer an opportunity for local authorities as employers to ensure that the scheme provided important support for employees at the lower end of the pay scale and reflects the unique demographics of our workforce whilst remaining affordable and sustainable.

“The positive ballot result from the trade union side is a welcome confirmation that the new scheme design is a positive change and reflects a very constructive approach between all parties.”
Dave Watson, UNISON’s Scottish organiser (bargaining and campaigns), said while the local government trade unions regard the reform of the Scottish LGPS as an “unnecessary interference” by the UK Government in the operation of a pension scheme that was updated in April 2009, their approach has been to minimise the impact of the changes and maintain the main elements of the uniquely Scottish approach.

He added: “The main aim was to protect and improve pension benefits for the majority of members without increasing contributions. Such an increase would simply drive members away from pension provision at a time of pay cuts and other economic pressure. We hope the new scheme will attract new members, particularly women and those at the lower end of the pay scale who are most likely to suffer by not having a secure pension in retirement. In doing so, we believe we have a sustainable and affordable scheme for the longer term.”