Superannuation Bill

Memorandum submitted by Chris Young (SU 72)

1. I am a 40 year old Nuvos Scheme member, who has been in the scheme since February 1 st 2010 when I joined NERIP (North East Research and Information Partnership), within the RDA, One North East . I also have an accrued sum in the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) from when I was a Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool between 1998 and 2002.

2. I feel particularly aggrieved at this Bill and the way the Coalition Government and the media are effectively portraying civil servants and other public sector workers as ‘fat cats’!

3. I left a consultancy post in the private sector for family reasons in order to take up my new post , for a salary some £4,000 lower than my equivalent private sector salary . I am performing virtually the same tasks and functions for less money partly because the pension and working conditions (flexi-leave, holidays) are slightly better; placing stress on the word ‘slightly’. These working conditions help balance out my reduced salary.

4. In summary, a very small minority of civil servants might appear to be the beneficiaries of gold plated pensions and conditions but these are the conditions they signed up to 30 years ago or so and they should not face the goalposts moving now. In any case the large m ajority of civil servants are not and will n ever be , these so-called ‘fat cat’ beneficiaries. My Nuvos scheme for example does not have the same benefits as older , closed civil service schemes.

September 2010