Dear Brother/Sister,
The Public Services Pension Bill (PSPB) is currently progressing through Parliament. This is the legislation that introduces the changes to public service pensions, including fire service pensions. The process involves several stages where evidence can be submitted, amendments can be suggested and debates can take place within the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
The Bill had its second reading on 29 October 2012 and during the associated debate many of our key concerns were raised by MPs. The PSPB is now in the 'committee stage' where selected MPs discuss the individual sections on a 'line by line' basis before it is presented again to the House of Commons for the 'report stage'. As part of the committee stage interested parties are allowed to submit evidence for consideration.
There are detailed procedures for this stage of legislation and the union decided to take this opportunity to reiterate our specific concerns around the proposed Normal Pension Age (NPA) which is covered in clause 9(2) of the PSPB. This is only one area of concern and we will continue to raise all other areas where the proposals are unacceptable.
This latest submission is available to read and download.
Please take the time to read this summarised submission which is designed to simplify and focus the concerns around the proposed NPA of 60.
The committee stage is also one of the stages that present an opportunity for MPs to suggest amendments. We are continuing to discuss the Bill with several MPs and are utilising our Parliamentary Group to advise us to ensure that we maximise our influence during this process.
YouGov Survey
The government's proposal for further employee contribution increases are expected to be made known very soon. You will recall that the initial proposals for year 1 (April 2012) employee contribution increases for the Firefighters Pension Schemes involved an increase of 1.3% (FPS) and 0.6% (NFPS) for the majority of firefighters. These proposals also included tiered increases for higher earners.
Following our opposition, backed up by substantial supporting evidence, this proposal was amended to one which meant an amended increase of around 0.6% (FPS) and 0.3% (NFPS). Although any increase was unwelcome, this limited movement by government was only achieved because the FBU presented detailed evidence based, in part, on a survey commissioned by the union from independent polling organisation YouGov.
This information allowed us to build a submission that could not be ignored. This approach is being followed again this year including the use of the YouGov survey. Any survey is dependent upon members participating and this one is no different. The YouGov survey has been active since 29 October and was due to finish on 16 November. Following other developments a decision has been made to extend the duration of the survey until 12:00 on 30 November.
It is very important that members participate in this survey and this extension gives another opportunity for you to take part. Members can access the survey via the FBU website www.fbu.org.uk and can complete it using computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones but please recognise that to avoid multiple submissions once a device has been used to take part its 'IP address' is logged and subsequent submissions are not recorded.
If you or members of your branch have not taken part in the survey please take a few minutes to do so.
Yours fraternally
Matt Wrack
General Secretary
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