Category: Pension Committee

Frequently Asked Questions, 1) Cllr Watt, 2) Colas Ltd, 3) Merseyside Pension Fund Job Evaluation 4) Cllr Gerry Ellis

Answers to readers questions:- Q1. Councillor Geoffrey Watt is from what council? A1. Councillor Geoffrey Watt is from the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Q2. Who is the Colas representative on Wirral Council? A2. There isn’t a Colas Limited representative on Wirral Council as Colas Limited and Wirral Council are separate organisations. However, Steve Grimes is … Continue reading “Frequently Asked Questions, 1) Cllr Watt, 2) Colas Ltd, 3) Merseyside Pension Fund Job Evaluation 4) Cllr Gerry Ellis”

Answers to readers questions:-

Q1. Councillor Geoffrey Watt is from what council?

A1. Councillor Geoffrey Watt is from the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

Q2. Who is the Colas representative on Wirral Council?

A2. There isn’t a Colas Limited representative on Wirral Council as Colas Limited and Wirral Council are separate organisations.

However, Steve Grimes is the Contracts Manager for Colas Ltd.

On Wirral Council, there are a number of people with responsibility for the Colas contract, some of whom are listed below.

Brian Smith, Highway Management/(0151) 606 2426/briansmith@wirral.gov.uk .

Cabinet Member (Streetscene and Transport) Cllr. Harry Smith.
Cabinet Member (Corporate Resources) Cllr. Adrian Jones

The Deputy Director of Technical Services is Mark Smith and there are others apart from the four people named above with varying responsibilities.

Q3. Merseyside Pension Fund job evaluation?

Merseyside Pension Fund is administered by the Administering Authority. The Administering Authority is the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

The current round of job evaluations (Stages 3 & 4) was agreed at the Cabinet meeting of 13/10/2011. This also involves a new pay and grading structure for all posts above spinal column point 34.

Stage One (up to SCP 34) and Stage Two (Schools) are not covered by this answer.

This is because Stage 2 does not apply to the Merseyside Pension Fund AFAIK, Stage 1 is already complete (except for appeals) at the time of asking the question.

Stage Three covers SCP 35 to 70 (£29,174 to £61,000) and Band H employees. This is contracted to the HAY Group with support from the Council’s in-house team.

Stage Four (Heads of Service and above) of the Job Evaluations is now contracted by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral to the HAY Group. The Hay Group is supported by the Job Evaluation Team.

For further information contact either Wirral Council: Chris Hyams, Head of HR and OD, Department of Law HR and Asset Management Telephone: (0151 691 8590) Email: chrishyams@wirral.gov.uk or the HAY Group.

Disclosure of interest: The author of this piece has a close family member who is now in receipt of a Merseyside Pension Fund pension.

Q4. What party is the current Mayor of Wirral Cllr. Gerry Ellis from?

A4. Cllr Gerry Ellis is from the Conservative Party.

Budget 2012: Changes to Pensions, Age Related Allowances, Royal Mail Pension Plan, State Retirement Age, Pension Infrastructure Platform

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP announced the 2012 Budget today, I thought I’d better write a blog post with the potted highlights, although obviously for more detail you can watch his long speech, check out what’s published on the Treasury’s website (and is the main source for what is […]

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP announced the 2012 Budget today, I thought I’d better write a blog post with the potted highlights, although obviously for more detail you can watch his long speech, check out what’s published on the Treasury’s website (and is the main source for what is below) or have a read through the extensive media coverage.

I’ll start with pensions.

Pensions

(a) as average lifespan increases the State Pension Age will go up and

(b) the State Pension will be reformed into a single tier pension for those not currently in receipt of a State Pension but not until the next Parliament (at least 2015).

The latter means such changes don’t affect those currently in receipt of a pension, or those receiving one before the changes come into effect.

Age Related Allowances change affecting those of pensionable age

These allowances affect income tax calculations for pensioners. This will be £10,500 and £10,600 for 2012-2013, with changes in future years from 2013 onwards.

A Pension Infrastructure Platform will be set up to allow pension funds to invest in UK infrastructure.

The Royal Mail Pension Plan is being transferred to the public sector, assuming the government gets approval.

There will be reform of public sector pensions and the age at which you can retire will be increased to bring it in line with increases in State Retirement Age. This and other reforms will have to be agreed with the public sector unions.

The deficit in the Royal Mail pension scheme will be addressed if the government gets State Aid approval. The government will (if they get approval) sell off the non-gilt assets of the pension scheme and take on board the liabilities.

Strikes Update – 30th November 2011

Well today is N30 (30th November), the only union I’m in (National Union of Journalists) isn’t on strike else how would people hear about what’s going on through the media?

Yet, in a roundabout way the strikes do affect me. As a funeral organist, I can only play at funerals if the dead can be buried. However the cemetery/crematorium run by Wirral Council is closed so nobody can be buried today.

I really don’t mind as there was a funeral yesterday and one tomorrow. The colder it gets the more people die. It’s good to have a day off once in a while so I can deal with pending matters.

What the strikes have done is bring the issue of public sector pension reform to the top of the media agenda. Over two years ago, I asked the then Chair of the Pensions Committee (which controls the Merseyside Pension Fund) what will be the cost of the extra pension contributions to Wirral Council in this financial year (2009/10), due to a drop in Pension Fund Assets?. She gave a comprehensive answer which sadly isn’t in the minutes, but from my recollection she didn’t know what the increased cost to Wirral Council would be ahead of the tri-annual revaluation of the Fund.

In the last two years the answer given seems to be that the increased costs should fall on employers and employees. If you increase pension costs for employees it is in effect a cut in their take home pay. Any public sector worker working earning £21,000 a year or more has already had a pay freeze, so with the cost of living rising, no wonder they are going on strike!

Update: I passed Arrowe Park Hospital and saw a lot of union flags and a picket line there (sadly my camera battery died so no photos). The M53 was very slow between the Moreton Spur and Bidston due to the closure of the Mersey Tunnels. It’s down to one lane as you approach junction 1 as you’re not allowed to go past junction 1 due to either roadworks or the tunnel closure.

Pensions Committee (Wirral Council) 21st November 2011 Part 1, Declarations of interest, minutes (Pension Committee 19/9/2011, Investment Monitoring Working Party (12/10/2011)), Local Government Pension Scheme Update, Public Service Pensions (HM Treasury)

Present:
Cllr Geoffrey Watt (Chair)
Cllr Ann McLachlan (spokesperson)
Cllr Tom Harney (spokesperson)
Cllr Peter Johnston
Cllr Paul Doughty
Cllr George Davies
Cllr Adrian Jones
Various other councillors and co-optees

The Chair Cllr Geoffrey Watt welcomed people to the meeting of the Pensions Committee.

He asked if members of the committee had any personal or prejudicial interests in agenda items to declare.

Cllr George Davies declared a personal interest by virtue of his wife’s employment in a school.
Cllr Paul Doughty declared a personal interest by virtue of his wife’s employment in a school.
Cllr Geoffrey Watt declared an interest because of his father-in-law.
It is possible others declared interests too but as they didn’t use their microphones, I couldn’t hear them.

The Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Watt then asked if they agreed the minutes of the Pension Committee meeting held on the 19th September 2011. He asked if could sign them as a true record. The committee agreed that he could. He said that they were signed.

1:50

The Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Watt then moved to item 3, which was the Investment Monitoring Working Party minutes of the 12th October 2011. He referred committee members to the exempt appendix too. He asked committee members to note those. The committee noted them.

2:15
The Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Watt moved the committee to item 4 which was the Local Government Pension Scheme Update and two reports. He said he would take this with item 11 (Any Other Urgent Business – Public Service Pensions – HM Treasury on the supplementary agenda.

2:21

Merseyside Pension Fund accounts, Ed Davey letter about Post Offices, Free Mersey Tunnel Fast Tags (disabled)

Every so often I write a post that answers questions people have posed by searching for my blog in search engines.

There have been a couple of searches today for the Merseyside Pension Fund Annual Accounts for 2010/2011.

Merseyside Pension Fund is administered by Wirral Council. There are of course two versions of the accounts for 2010/2011, the unaudited and audited accounts. The audited accounts are below. Please click for a larger version. The rest of the information relating to the accounts can be found on Wirral Council’s website.

Merseyside Pension Fund Accounts 2010/2011

The second question is from visitors curious about Lib Dem Ed Davey MP (Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs)’s letter to local councils about Post Offices. I’ve requested a copy from Ed Davey and will write about this issue when I receive it.

Another is about the Fast Tags for the disabled (for going through the Mersey Tunnels). All the information about the free Fast Tag for the disabled can be found on Mersey Tunnel’s website and the Application Form can be downloaded here.

Disclaimer (in the interests of open journalism): My wife is in receipt of a Fast Tag (on disablity grounds) for Mersey Tunnels. My father is a member of the Merseyside Pension Fund.