Pensions Black Hole

There's a stark warning by Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat Shadow Works and Pensions Secretary, that council tax will rise to plug the looming £60 billion (yes, billion) hole in local government pensions.  According to a report in the Telegraph, fund managers in charge of local government pensions revealed that 83 out of 87 schemes were in deficit in 2007.

According to the Telegraph, Mr Wbb said that millions of people could be faced with cuts to vital services and council tax hikes, hitting pensioners especially hard.

Apparently, town hall pensions are costing every taxpaying household almost £300 per year.  That sounds like a huge amount to me that isn't being spent on cleaning the streets or emptying the bins.

The government claims that the size of the deficit is just speculation and the Unite Union has said that the Liberal Democrats forecast is "far removed from financial reality."

Still, it's food for thought isn't it.  Even if the 'black hole' was a smaller percentage of the amount claimed by Mr Webb, the question still remains as to how it's going to be filled.  Someone, somewhere is going to have to pay.

For information about supplementing your own pension, visit the Retirement Revenue website.