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The ‘bankrupt’ Labour council spending £283m on gold-plated pensions
Rubbish in the streets, library doors slammed shut and vital support services decimated from cradle to grave. These are just some of the symptoms of a tough period for the residents of England’s second largest city.
When Birmingham City Council effectively filed for bankruptcy almost 18 months ago, it announced £300m of cuts over two years – affecting almost every area of public life.
During that same period, the council is on course to stuff another £283m into gold-plated pensions for staff, The Telegraph can reveal.
Birmingham has one of the most expensive schemes in the country — it spent around £1 in every £3 of council tax receipts on staff pension contributions last year. Officials receive a guaranteed, inflation-linked income for life when they retire.
https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/bankrupt-labour-council-spending-283m-124131187.html
Comments
Existing employees have contracts of employment. That have "gold-plated" (Final Salary) pensions. You can't just suddenly stop them-unless you would rather give the money to Lawyers and the Employees via massive awards in Employment Tribunals.
What it requires is medium to long term planning. Something that Big Business can do-and Central/Local Governments cannot. So-probably 30+ years ago, Employers prevented new joiners from getting Final Salary Pensions, and gave them the (distinctly inferior, but still good) Defined Contribution Pensions instead. And, over that 30+ years, the problem reduced every year, and is now far, far lower. Everywhere except Central/Local Govt, and Govt run employment, such as the NHS, Police, Army etc.
It is not "Labour Councils". It is all Councils. For Decades.
There is only 1 thing as ruinous to the Economy as unfunded Final Salary Pensions. Which is, of course, the unfunded Triple Lock for pensioners. Which, again, is something that is the fault of every single Party. And the Press.