Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme Negotiating Group
May 2013 Update
A further meeting of the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme Negotiating Group was held on 14 May 2013.
Whilst certain papers remained outstanding, illustrations and papers provided by the Government's Actuary Department were discussed at the meeting in relation to the possibility of protecting age 65 as the normal age for retirement. A joint approach is to be made to HM Treasury regarding their actuarial assumptions, with further discussion anticipated at the next meeting.
A new working group is also to be considered, potentially to consider a workforce planning agenda regarding those teachers who will be impacted by the move from Normal Retirement Age 60 to the state pension age, which will rise to age 68.
The next meeting of the Group will take place in June 2013. Negotiations are anticipated to conclude no later than mid-June 2013 and further updates will be provided via the website.
April 2013 Update
Discussions regarding protection of age 65 as the normal age for retirement continue within the group.
Despite previous requests for particular papers and illustrations, these have not been produced in their entirety to date. These papers are anticipated prior to the next meeting of the group.
Whilst the Teachers' side were advised that HM Treasury is unlikely to grant further concessions, the group are pressing for further action to be taken to move matters forward.
The next meeting of the Group is set for week commencing 13 May 2013.
March 2013 Update
The Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme Negotiating Group met again on 21 March.
Despite resistance from the teaching unions, the Scottish Government confirmed that regulations had now been laid before the Scottish Parliament in order to levy the increased contributions to the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme from April 2013.
In addition, regardless of earlier assurances, the Scottish Government had still not produced a discussion paper setting out how their discussions with HM Treasury had managed to secure some protection to the normal retirement age of 65. However, they undertook to continue to press HM Treasury for further concessions and to produce such an explanation showing modelled options as soon as possible.
The hope was also expressed that they could now conclude the Treasury discussions by the end of May.
The Teachers’ Side have arranged to meet with Mike Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, along with John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, on Tuesday 26 March to impress upon the politicians the need for any changes to the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme to be fair and progressive.
The next meeting of the Group is provisionally set for week commencing 22 April.
February 2013 update
The Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group met on 28 February 2013.
The Scottish Government's Consultation on proposed employee contribution increases to the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme from April 2013 closed on 1 February 2013. [The Consultation can be accessed here and Voice's response is here. ]
The Scottish Government advise that, further to the consultation, it remains their intention to increase contributions with effect from 1 April 2013 in the manner detailed in their consultation.
At the meeting, the Teachers' side expressed their concern that the majority union position on this issue had been disregarded by the Scottish Government.
With regards to longer term reform of the Teachers' scheme, the Scottish Government continue to liaise with the Treasury regarding possible reduction of the early retirement factor. Once the Treasury's final response in this respect is received and papers are distributed to stakeholders, parties will be in a position to further discuss options to protect 65 as the normal age for retirement. In the meantime, the Teachers' side intend to pursue a high-level meeting to discuss the political dimension to this issue.
The next meeting of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group is scheduled to take place in March 2013. Updates on further developments will continue to be provided via this website on an ongoing basis.
STSS Circular 2013/04 (4 March 2013): increases to members' contributions effective from 1 April 2013
17 & 30 (response below) January 2013
January 2013 update
The Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group held a further meeting on 17 January 2013.
The Scottish Government's Consultation on proposed employee contribution increases to the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme from April 2013 is currently underway, closing on 1 February 2013.
Voice does not agree with the further contribution increases being forced upon Scotland.
The Consultation can be accessed here and Voice's response is here.
With regards to longer term reform of the teachers' scheme, the Scottish Government has submitted an outline proposal to the Treasury regarding possible reduction of the early retirement factor. Once the Treasury's response in this respect is received, stakeholders will be in a position to discuss further the options to protect 65 as the normal age for retirement.
The next meeting of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group will take place in February 2013. Updates on further developments will continue to be provided via this website on an ongoing basis.
21 December 2012
December 2012 update
The Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group held a further meeting on 12 December 2012.
The Scottish Government has taken the decision to implement the second annual increment of the UK Government’s proposed employee contribution increases to the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme from April 2013. The Scottish Government’s position on this issue was set out in Mr Swinney’s statement to Parliament on 28 November 2012 (below).
Voice does not agree with the further contribution increases being forced upon Scotland.
The Consultation can be accessed here.
With regards to longer term reform of the teachers' scheme, the Scottish Government has received clarity from the UK Government regarding the parameters of the Scottish negotiations.
Stakeholders were advised that negotiations on this matter must conclude no later than the end of March 2013. Concerns were expressed regarding this deadline, given the extent of discussion which is still to take place.
The Scottish Government assured stakeholders that, in considering scheme design, it would explore every possible avenue between now and the conclusion of our negotiations.
The next meeting of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group will take place in January 2013. Updates on further developments will continue to be provided via this website on an ongoing basis.
28 November 2012
Scottish Government’s position on public service pensions and next meeting
Senior Professional Officer (Scotland) Jennifer Hannah commented:
“Voice is disappointed by the Scottish Government's stance on contribution increases.
“We will consider the proposal in detail once the consultation on this point is launched.
“The next pensions meeting is scheduled for 12 December 2012. Now that the Scottish Government has announced it has clarity on its remit for pension negotiations, we hope that an offer will be tabled by Scottish Government for consideration and discussion at that meeting.”
21 November 2012
November meeting of Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group cancelled
The Scottish Government cancelled the pensions negotiating meeting scheduled for 20 November 2012.
No offer on teachers' pensions has yet been made by the Government and no response given to the teachers' side proposals to protect 65 as the normal age for retirement.
Senior Professional Officer (Scotland) Jennifer Hannah commented:
"It had been agreed between stakeholders that we would need clarity on pension age and funding for pension reform in order for progress to be made and that this would be required before the next meeting due on the 20th.
"We are disappointed by the cancellation, given the tight timescales which have been imposed for negotiations to be concluded.
"We need clarity on these issues to enable negotiations to move forward."
Further updates will be posted on this website.
24 October 2012
Fifth meeting of Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group
The fifth meeting of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group was held on 24th October 2012.
With regards to further proposed contribution increases, a consultation process is anticipated in early course. Proposals to increase pension contributions in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 remain of concern to Voice and further details regarding the upcoming consultation exercise will be provided via the website.
With regards to long-term reform of the pension scheme, it is anticipated that clarification of the parameters for the negotiations will be received from Scottish Government in early course. Concerns have been expressed regarding the delay in this information being made available to the group, to allow substantive discussions to take place. In the meantime, data is being prepared/gathered for further consideration by the group.
Previous papers are available on the Scottish Government’s website via the following link: www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/education/schools/teaching/PAC/pensionsgroup
Updates on further developments will continue to be provided via this website on an ongoing basis.
12 September 2012
Fourth meeting of Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group
The fourth meeting of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group was held on 12 September 2012.
The Group are still in the process of gathering and evaluating the information required to allow further detailed discussions.
For example, additional data on scheme opt-outs are awaited to ascertain the impact of the 2012 contribution increase. It is understood that, once the position in England and Wales on future contribution increases is known, there will be a consultation on contribution increases for 2013-14 and 2014-15. Updates on this consultation exercise will be provided via our website.
Additionally, copies of further correspondence between Scottish Government and UK Government, clarifying the parameters of the negotiations, have been requested and are awaited, to allow substantive discussions on scheme reform to take place.
There was general discussion regarding the upcoming Public Service Pension Bill and the potential impact of this on negotiations in Scotland.
The proposed retirement age of 68 is of great concern to Voice and will be a particular focus within future negotiation meetings.
Concerns have also once again been expressed regarding the tight timescales imposed on Scottish Government to reach a conclusion in these negotiations.
Further information:
Previous papers are available on the Scottish Government’s website.
The Public Service Pensions Bill will be available on the Treasury’s website.
Updates on further developments will continue to be provided via this website on an ongoing basis.
1 August 2012
Third meeting of Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group
The third meeting of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group was held on 1 August 2012.
The Group are still in the process of gathering and evaluating the data required to allow further detailed discussions.
Concerns have been expressed regarding the tight timescales imposed on the Scottish Government to reach a conclusion in these negotiations. The Group are in the process of arranging additional meetings to facilitate as much discussion as possible within the timescales stipulated.
The Scottish Government intends to produce copies of papers relating to the work of this group via its website. Once this web page has been established, we will provide a link to this on the Voice website for our members.
Updates on further developments will continue to be provided via this website on an ongoing basis.
Further information:
Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group papers
27 June 2012
Second meeting of Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group
The second meeting of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group, to consider scheme design for a new Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme to be introduced in 2015, was held on 27 June 2012.
Future proposals for further increases in pension contributions for the years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 are also within the scope of this negotiating group.
The Scottish Government advised that it continued to press for clarification from the UK Government with regards to the constraints upon them in relation to both contribution increases and long-term pension reform.
The Scottish Government has since provided a further update via their website, on 3 July 2012, with regards to their difficulties in obtaining clarification in this respect from the UK Government.
Further discussion also took place on 27 June 2012 as to the data which will be required in order to allow future detailed discussions to take place. Data will be analysed by the Negotiating Group's Technical Sub-Group, which held its initial meeting on 22 June 2012.
Updates on further developments will continue to be provided via this website on an ongoing basis.
25 April 2012
First meeting of Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group
The first meeting of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Negotiating Group, on which Voice Scotland is represented, was held on 25 April 2012.
The Group's remit was discussed and it will consider a scheme design for a new Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme to be introduced in 2015.
At this initial meeting, the structure of the group was also discussed in detail. Further detail regarding the constraints on the Scottish Government, as occupational pension schemes are a matter reserved to Westminster, is currently being sought of the UK Government. Data requests, in order to allow future detailed discussions, were also discussed.
The Scottish Government's commitment to a scheme which would be no worse than that in England and Wales was confirmed, as was their commitment to a scheme which is affordable, sustainable and fair.
The meeting was positive, with all parties involved hoping to move forward on a consensual basis where possible.
Updates on further developments will be provided via this website on an ongoing basis.
Further information / background /updates:
www.voicetheunion.org.uk/pensionsreview
Contact:
Senior Professional Officer (Scotland) Jennifer Hannah
Email: scotland@voicetheunion.org.uk
Tel: 0131 220 8241