Surrey County UNISON branch

Following further discussions with UNISON and the other unions, Local Government Minister Phil Woolas has said that he intends to consult immediately on extending full protection to 2020 for those currently eligible to full protection to 2016, tapered to 2020. He says he wants to ensure “fairness to scheme members in England and Wales with respect to Scotland”. LGPS members in Scotland have already been offered full protection to 2020 and the same is likely in Northern Ireland. At present we have no timetable for the consultation, but will let you know as soon as we hear.

Special Conference calls for talks to continue

Delegates attending the Local Government Special Conference in London on 6 March backed the "substantial negotiated improvements" in the proposals for the new LGPS and called for talks to continue on the outstanding issues. Delegates also rejected calls to move to an immediate industrial action ballot.

The Conference supported a motion calling for members to be balloted on whether they accept the final proposals as soon as negotiations are completed. Delegates called for a full equality impact assessment under the Disability Discrimination Act to ensure that the new LGPS meets the needs of disabled workers.

What happens now?

In line with the policy supported by all the Service Groups, our negotiators will vigorously pursue the following outstanding issues over the coming weeks:

• Confirming full protection to 2020.
• Agreeing definitions of ‘gainful employment’ and ‘within a reasonable time of leaving’ within the proposed ill health retirement provisions;
• Agreeing the formula for the calculation of part-time workers’ contributions;
• Dealing with the 5% manual workers’ protected rate.

Part time workers’ contributions
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) have written to the Minister saying that there needs to be an equality impact assessment of the final proposed scheme and that they concur with UNISON’s view that the current proposal for calculating part-time contributions appears discriminatory. Further legal advice is being sought on this issue. This will be shared with the Government, the employers and the EOC. There is a consensus that there must be no unlawful discrimination against part-time workers in the scheme. If our legal view does not prevail, we will explore legal action.

5% Manual workers’ contribution rate
We are still negotiating over this aspect of the current scheme. We are still waiting for further information on those who currently pay 5% to see if/how the 5% rate could lawfully be carried forward. The DCLG have made some initial suggestions about protection up to 2011, and further talks will take place when comprehensive data is received.

Once the negotiations are concluded on these issues there will be a consultative ballot of all affected members, asking if the final package is acceptable.

LGPS Newsletter 56