- Media & Campaigns
- Press releases
- March 2010
- LGA heralds recognition of councils' vital role in adult care White Paper
- Winter weather review announced - councils respond
- Total Place report an important first step to better local services that cost less - LGA
- Potholes being fixed at record rate - LGA
- Chancellor announces £100m for potholes - councils respond
- LGA responds to council tax announcement
- LGA calls for councils to be 'freed from out-dated rules' on libraries
- LGA responds to Shelter research on housing
- Councils respond to landfill bans
- LGA response to Ed Balls announcement on child social work
- CAA costs 'are climbing' for some, LGA warns
- Councils seek freedom to build up to 500,000 new homes
- Councils respond to Audit Commission report
- Councils already alert to the problem of school admission fraud
- School admissions system stable despite increased pressure because of the recession
- New list published of 250 words the public sector shouldn't use
- Child protection reforms risk weakening safety net, LGA warns
- Microchips in bins - response to Big Brother Watch report
- Councils respond to Taxpayers Alliance pensions report
- Local Innovation Awards announced
- Early research findings show growing need for more social workers
- BBC poll shows tough times ahead for councils
- Delay to personal care at home implementation will ensure efficient service from day one - LGA
Councils respond to Taxpayers Alliance pensions report
LGA press release 4 March 2010
Responding to the Taxpayers’ Alliance report on local government pensions, Jo Miller, Deputy Chief Executive of the Local Government Association, said:
“It is extraordinary that the Taxpayers’ Alliance is attacking the pensions that dedicated lollipop ladies, bin men and librarians have paid into every working day.
“The average pension paid out under the scheme is just £4,044 a year to people, many of whom have toiled all their working lives to provide services to local residents. These vital services cannot be provided by robots. If we as a society want to recruit the best people and retain them we need to pay for it.
“Local government pensions are funded by investments built up using contributions from staff and employers.
“The Taxpayers Alliance is basing its figures on a snapshot of investments at the height of the financial crisis when all investments were hit hard, and all public and private sector pension schemes will reflect that. They would be better turning their fire on the banks which brought the markets to their knees and had to be rescued by taxpayers’ hard-earned cash.
“Council pension funds are carefully managed in the long term to cope with ups and downs in the markets. Councils are determined to make sure their pension scheme is fair to taxpayers, employers and employees. Councils’ payments into the pension scheme are equivalent to many of defined benefit pensions in the private sector.”
Author: LGA Media Team
Contact: LGA media Office, Tel: 020 7664 3333