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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE





Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:



“The NASUWT National Executive has recognised that the process the DfE used to seek to reach agreement by its imposed deadline of 20 December was a debacle.



“In these circumstances, it would have been completely irresponsible for the NASUWT to have signed up to the Heads of Agreement.



“The Coalition Government has still not provided any information on the need for reform to the TPS.



“All of the available evidence confirms that the TPS is fair, affordable and sustainable.



“The NASUWT remains committed to a negotiated settlement on pensions, but it is important that any agreements are based upon sound evidence and that decisions are made in light of critical information being made available. That has not been the case in these discussions.



“The Secretary of State promised that he would ensure that the interests of teachers were protected and that he would devote all the time and resources necessary to ensure that every effort was made to reach an agreement.



“I have requested that he meets, as a matter of urgency, with the NASUWT and the other unions that have reserved their position on signing the Heads of Agreement to discuss fully these concerns.



“The NASUWT will continue to press for further information on how the proposed changes to the TPS will impact on members.”





LEGAL CHALLENGES CONTINUE



CPI/RPI changes



From the outset, the NASUWT has been committed to pursuing all appropriate means of challenging the Government’s unfair, unjust and unnecessary changes on pensions.



The Union mounted, jointly with other TUC-affiliated unions, a legal challenge on the imposed change from the Retail Prices Index (RPI) to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which wiped thousands of pounds off the value of the pensions of serving and retired teachers. The High Court challenge was heard in October and although the Court rejected the claim, it was only on a split decision of the judges. The NASUWT therefore took further legal advice and has appealed. The Union was given leave to appeal and the appeal will be heard in the High Court on 20 February.



Valuation



In addition the NASUWT has sent a pre-action letter to the Treasury signalling the potential for a legal challenge on the basis of the failure of the Government to undertake a valuation of the TPS before moving to make major changes. Without a valuation, the Government cannot in fact demonstrate that there are any problems with the Scheme that need to be addressed. The NASUWT has argued consistently that the failure to conduct a valuation indicates that the Government recognises that the teachers’ pension schemes are, as the Treasury said previously, affordable, viable and sustainable in the long term.





THE NEXT STEPS



The NASUWT industrial action short of strike action is in pursuit of its trade dispute with the Secretary of State on pensions, workload and pay and conditions of service.

The Treasury has now imposed another arbitrary deadline of 20 February by which all discussions on the Heads of Agreement must be concluded. The NASUWT will attend the meetings scheduled by the DfE up to that date and will be pressing for improvements on the critical issues of pension contributions, early retirement and equality impact assessment. Members will be kept informed of progress through the NASUWT Pensions Latest reports.

The NASUWT will continue to pursue its legal challenges against the changes.

The Union opened an online opinion survey of members on 27 January 2012 to enable members to give feedback on developments to date. Members in England and Wales received a letter to their home address. The Union will use the responses from members to inform the next stage of the Pensions Campaign.

The TUC will be reviewing progress across all of the sector schemes.

The NASUWT National Executive will review progress at its meeting on 24 February.



Further details of the planned contribution rates, along with more information on the NASUWT’s pension campaign, can be found at www.nasuwt.org.uk/Pensions





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