Towards a pension agreement  

Yesterday, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, made a statement to the House on public sector pensions. It was the last sitting day before the Christmas recess so it was positive to end on an upturn, with some progress on reaching a deal between the Government and the unions on pensions seemingly being made.There are many, many questions still unanswered and many more creases that need ironing out before a final deal is reached. One area of concern, which I pressed the Chief Secretary for an answer on, is the level of opt-out likely to arise from settling these schemes.If a high number of public sector workers are unhappy with the new terms and opt out of paying into their pension plans then it presents a number of concerning problems. Some schemes, like the local government scheme, are funded. If lots of people opt out of it, it puts the whole future income and viability...