Guernsey Press

Pensions deal could still be done – outgoing union head

THERE is a deal to be made between the States and its employees on pension reforms, an outgoing union head has said.

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Ed Freestone has stepped down as president of the Association of Guernsey Civil Servants, a position he has held for eight years, as the States prepares to debate whether to use the courts to force through changes to the public sector pension scheme.

He said, having been in the post for so long, it was time to move on and let new president Martin MacIntyre step in meet the challenge facing unions.

Mr Freestone believed one of the reasons talks with the States had broken down was that for the States negotiators, changing the scheme had not been about reform, it had been about saving money.

'The pension scheme is not perfect. It needs reform. I think the proposed Care scheme is fair – but the accrual rate isn't.

'But it isn't one particular element that has killed it off. There may be one or two elements that we could have lived with, but as a whole package it doesn't work.'

He said the funding gap for the current pension scheme was the lowest in the UK, as it was 92% funded.

'We have a lot of respect for the prudence of the States to make sure it's not underfunded like the UK – that's good management and they have managed their affairs,' he said.

'But the scheme is not in such difficulty that we have to fix it tomorrow. The actuarial report has demonstrated that there are issues looming. But those don't need to be addressed tomorrow and they are all fixable in an envelope that is less extreme and acceptable. What we are being asked for exceeds what is necessary to meet the challenges we are facing.'

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