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Campaign group attacks council's pension payouts

EXCLUSIVEby Alex Claridge

Campaign group the TaxPayers’ Alliance has hit out at the city council after the Kentish Gazette revealed how much money it is pouring into its employees’ pensions.

Last week it emerged that the council had injected more than £21 million of taxpayers’ money into pensions since 2005.

The revelation prompted any angry response from Emma Boon, the campaign director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

She said: “Taxpayers are paying a fortune to top up Canterbury City Council employees’ pensions each year and this can’t go on.

“Too many local councils are still running unsustainable final salary schemes that are all but extinct in the private sector.

“Councils across Kent need to reform their pension schemes to lighten the load on council budgets; it would be grossly unfair for councils to try and plug the gap with tax rises.”

The council was forced to release the figure following a Freedom of Information Act request to the authority by this newspaper.

Information released also shows that at present it uses taxpayers’ money to put in nearly 30 per cent of employees’ salaries into pension funds.

Last week it also emerged that there is a £10.3 billion deficit in public sector pensions.

A report by ex-banker and actuarial consultant for the Centre for Policy Research concluded taxpayers would have to find a £340 a year each to support the system.

The city council has been defending its pension scheme for employees.

Its finance supremo Jim McDonald said: “In recent years the costs of providing pensions has been driven up because scheme members, like most of the population, are living longer and that has added pressure on the funds.

“As a result the scheme has been changed in recent years so that employees pay more, pension ages have been increased and the government has announced a change in index linking of pensions which will help close the funding gap.”

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