I read this with amazement. In Southwark the council has a pensions hole which we’re on track to fill. Much of these problems were when central government disbanded ILEA and other pan London bodies and didn’t ensure the pensions pots were filled at that time. Southwark picked up a mess and we’re gradually fixing it.

However, many other public sector areas have no pension funds as such. Fire Brigades typically pay pensions from current incomes. The audit Commission explained a decade ago that this was going to get worse and no plans for a pension funds have been put in place. So the CBI is right to point out that Public sector pensions are messy and need a proper plan to resolve.

While investigating and deciding what to do with public sector pensions a look at private sector pensions should take place. It is universally prevalent that executives reward themselves with extremely generous pensions – often final salary – while removing and reducing such benefits from all other employees. This is crass hypocracy and the CBI should seek its membership to get their houses in order. Equally the government could pass legislation that private companies are only allowed to have one pension scheme. I suspect personal interests of executives would ensure all employees pensions would then improve.