IEA Chairman Neil Record has written for The Daily Telegraph advocating public sector pension reforms which could deliver value to taxpayers and greater flexibility for civil servants.

Lamenting the cost to taxpayers of increasing public sector pensions in line with inflation, Neil wrote:

“These gold-plated, defined benefit pensions are now generally only available to public sector workers – at extraordinary cost and unfairness to taxpayers. 

When including pensions, public sector remuneration is higher than the private sector for similar jobs.”

Neil argued that much-needed reform to these pensions should deliver greater pay flexibility to state employees, writing:

“The Government should announce that from April 1 2024, every public sector worker will be given the option of doing just that – take the contributions in cash and forgo future years’ service in their pension scheme. 

So, the typical teacher could earn £46,600 and they could decide how they would organise their own pension – just like the 27 million private sector workers who do exactly that.”

The full article can be read here.