If you are a member of the SAUL pension scheme, you probably
know that currently changes are being proposed to the scheme, and it’s in the
consultation period at the moment.
Please try and respond to the consultation as the bigger the
response, the more attention SAUL will have to pay to our views.
Some of the concerns Unison negotiators have raised, and
which you might want to consider in your response to the consultation, include:
-
The change to a CARE (career average) scheme
for new entrants to the pension, as opposed to the final salary scheme that
current members have. Although this will not affect current members of the
scheme, the move to a two-tier system is bad news for everyone and means that
anyone joining the scheme from July will have a worse pension than those
already in the scheme.
-
The change to a career average scheme will also
affect anyone leaving SAUL and rejoining more than 30 months later.
-
For current members who want to retire before
65, any benefits they build up after 1 July 2012 will be reduced if they
retire before 65.
-
Increases to your SAUL pension are already
linked to increases in the Consumer Prices Index, a measure of inflation
generally agreed to rise more slowly than the Retail Prices Index. However,
even though this change has already happened, SAUL are proposing that benefits
built up from 1 July 2012 are linked to the CPI but capped. That means
that if inflation were to rise to 11%, your pension entitlements would only
increase by 8%.
-
We are being asked to agree to changes to SAUL
without having seen an independent audit of the scheme. SAUL members might want
to request that an independent audit is made of the scheme by actuaries
appointed by the trade unions, showing exactly what the funding situation is,
before changes are proposed. This is particularly important as in the 1990s the
employers took a 46-month contributions holiday where they paid nothing
into the scheme, counting on the rise in investments to cover their
contributions.
-
Currently, due to the global financial crisis,
the value of investments are at an all-time low. If there was an economic
upturn, it might be that SAUL’s funding situation might improve considerably.
This is another issue that an independent audit might examine.
-
New members of SAUL who are made redundant
late in their careers will not be able to take early retirement, as if they
take their pensions before age 65 they will receive a reduced pension.
The consultation ends at midnight on Friday 9th
March. You can respond to the consultation online at
