Letter from the Government

Letter from the Government

I got an email from the government the other day, I opened and read it, it said they were suckers!

“What will stay the same?

• You will continue to receive a guaranteed income in your retirement.
• You will keep the pension and lump sum you have already earned (i.e. accrued rights) and this will remain linked to your final salary on retirement.
• Regardless of any changes to teachers’ Normal Pension Age or the State Pension Age, you will retain options to retire at any age between 55 and 75.
• Those within 10 years of Normal Pension Age on 1 April 2012 will see no change to the age at which they can retire, and no change in the amount of pension they receive when they retire.

What is proposed to change?

• A move from a final salary pension to a career average pension scheme.
• A phased increase to teachers’ Normal Pension Age in line with changes to the State Pension Age.
• A rebalancing of employee and employer contributions to provide a fairer distribution between members and other taxpayers.”

In a very thinly disguised attempt to stop me striking, 4 long bullet points, replete with details and technical terms, written in the second person reassure me that I “will continue” etc.

3 short, pronounless bullet points vaguely suggest that there will be “a move”, “a phased increase” and, most ominously, “a rebalancing”. And how will this rebalancing of contributions actually work out?

Nick Gibb, MP, Secretary of State for Schools – see you on the streets on 30th November.