Civil service unions Prospect and the FDA have called on ministers to\u00a0take action to reduce\u00a0the \u201cgender pension gap\u201d faced by departmental officials, which they describe as \u201cunacceptably high\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Prospect calculated that\u00a0in\u00a02022-23\u00a0there\u00a0was\u00a0a 36.5% difference between the average\u00a0total\u00a0pension income received by female\u00a0recipients of the state pension\u00a0compared with male counterparts\u00a0across the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It said that the civil service pension gap, as measured by data underpinning 2020\u2019s actuarial valuation of the CSPS, was 45%. The figure\u00a0represents\u00a0the difference in average gross pension income received by female retired civil servants compared with male counterparts.<\/p>\n
This week, Prospect deputy general secretary Steve Thomas and FDA assistant general secretary Adrian\u00a0Prandle\u00a0wrote to\u00a0the Cabinet Office seeking \u201curgent\u201d steps to address the issue\u00a0in the CSPS\u2019s main Alpha\u00a0Scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Cabinet Office\u00a0is responsible for\u00a0managing the CSPS, while HM Treasury\u00a0is responsible for\u00a0public sector pension scheme policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas and\u00a0Prandle\u00a0argue that\u00a0the impact of caring responsibilities on female civil servants will continue to drive\u00a0the pension gap in the sector unless CSPS rules are changed to better reflect the needs of people with\u00a0such obligations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a letter to\u00a0newly-appointed\u00a0minister of state Anna Turley, they say reforms\u00a0proposed for\u00a0the Local Government Pension Scheme show how disparity in the CSPS could be\u00a0greatly reduced\u00a0in an \u201ceffective and affordable\u201d way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among the measures highlighted are making authorised unpaid absences of 31 days or fewer automatically pensionable\u00a0and making unpaid statutory parental leave pensionable. Additionally, Prospect and the FDA are calling for mandatory reporting on the civil service\u00a0pension gap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The LGPS reform proposals came out of a report commissioned from the Government Actuary\u2019s Department that was published in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prospect and the FDA\u00a0have asked the Cabinet Office to commission the GAD\u00a0to produce a\u00a0tailored\u00a0report on\u00a0the civil service pension gap\u00a0and ways it can be reduced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Significant level of inequality\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas and\u00a0Prandle\u00a0said\u00a0Turley\u00a0would be aware of\u00a0the need to tackle the \u201csignificant level of inequality\u201d in the Alpha\u00a0Scheme \u2013 and that that the Equality Act 2010 required her to have \u201cdue regard to the need to eliminate it\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise that several policies, particularly around the gender pay gap, shared parental leave and childcare, will help reduce the gender pension gap in the scheme over time,\u201d they wrote.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the impact of caring responsibilities on the pension\u00a0accrued\u00a0by women will continue to drive an unacceptably large gender gap unless addressed in the scheme rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the rules of the Alpha\u00a0Scheme better reflected the working lives of women (and also\u00a0some men) with caring responsibilities, this would\u00a0greatly reduce\u00a0the disparity in outcomes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas and\u00a0Prandle\u00a0said that a cost estimate of the LGPS reform proposals for England and Wales suggested an annual figure of under \u00a31m in increased contributions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
They said\u00a0the\u00a0cost to civil service employers would be\u00a0\u201cof the same order of magnitude\u201d and\u00a0would be\u00a0\u201cclearly also affordable\u201d for\u00a0the Alpha\u00a0Scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas and\u00a0Prandle\u00a0acknowledged that other reforms proposed for the LGPS \u2013 which, unlike the CSPS, is a funded pension scheme \u2013\u00a0might\u00a0be \u201cless straightforward\u201d to\u00a0incorporate into regulations for the Alpha\u00a0Scheme.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
One example was making it easier for scheme members with an unpaid work break of more than 30 days to buy back any pension lost during that time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, they said it was important for\u00a0the\u00a0GAD\u00a0to identify\u00a0the main causes of the civil service\u2019s gender pension gap and for \u201call practical proposals that would help close it to be assessed\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is not the first time that Prospect and the FDA have called\u00a0on government to act on the civil service pension gap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In spring last year, Prospect\u00a0asked\u00a0then-chief secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott to\u00a0instigate action after \u201cnumerous\u201d\u00a0previous\u00a0approaches\u00a0failed to\u00a0get the department to engage in a \u201cmeaningful way\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prospect and the FDA\u2019s decision to lobby the Cabinet Office on the pensions gender gap appears to be a change of tack.\u00a0<\/p>\n