Public sector pensions deal with NHS workers’ unions

The deal with health workers follows Britain’s first mass strike for more than 30 years, on 30 November, over pension changes. It is an outline agreement that still needs to be approved by union executives in the new year.

Under the proposals, staff less than 10 years away from retirement would not face any change to their pension, and those earning less than £26,000 would be protected from an increase in contributions in 2012. Unions covered by the NHS scheme include Unison, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing.

‘Damage-limitation exercise’

Christina McAnea, Unison’s head of health, said: “This is the government’s final offer. On some issues, such as contribution rates for the low-paid next year, and for people close to retirement, we have made progress. On others, we always knew this would be a damage-limitation exercise aimed at reducing the worst impacts of the government’s pension changes.”

Officials said there were important issues still to be resolved and that the final decision on whether to agree to the offer would be taken by each union in line with their own democratic processes.

Civil servants

The largest civil service union, the PCS, rejected the government’s latest offer, saying “nothing has changed” since November’s strike.

Public servants should not be forced to pay off a budget deficit caused by the greed and recklessness of bankers. Mark Serwotka, PCS

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Public servants should not be forced to pay off a budget deficit caused by the greed and recklessness of bankers and exacerbated by the Tory-led government’s economic incompetence.”

Prospect, the second largest civil service union, said it was ruling out further industrial action while negotiations continued.

Dai Hudd, the union’s deputy general secretary, said Prospect’s executive would consider the government’s offer in January, adding: “This is the first time we have been able to put the detail of the Government’s proposals to members for them to consider, together with a clearer focus on the design of the new scheme. The November 30 action clearly persuaded ministers that they had to come up with concrete improvements to their earlier proposals.”

The National Association of Head Teachers said a deal for its members was unlikely to be on the table before Christmas.

FactCheck: The truth about the public sector pensions row

Downing Street said it was “hopeful of making some progress” and confirmed that Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, would make a statement to the Commons on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We have always said we wanted to reach an agreement by the end of the year. We remain hopeful that that can be done. The chief secretary has said he retains the right to take that deal off the table.”

Meetings were held at government departments across Whitehall on Monday in the hope of reaching agreement on the future of four pension schemes, covering local government workers, NHS staff, civil servants and teachers.

A union source close to the talks said a deal also looked likely on local government pensions, but he accused the government of being “hell bent on confrontation” on other schemes.

Strike

Up to two million workers went on strike last month in protest at the controversial pension changes, and intensive talks have since been held to try to break the deadlock.

The unions say the reforms mean public sector staff working longer and paying more for lower pensions. The government says it is taking action to bring down the deficit and public sector workers will still receive generous pensions.