Special Cuts Bulletin NIPSA January 2015 Pensions Face A
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CUTS Special edition 2015:Layout 1 13/1/15 17:20 Page 1 special cuts bulletin NIPSA January 2015 Pensions face a ThHEeNEaW pvublyic serhviceipt ension schemes that will be in place by April 2015 are likely to be heavily impacted by the loss of thou - sands of public sector jobs. Each scheme must function within tight cost controls and be sustainable in terms of its oper - ating costs. The only funds schemes have – albeit notional in the unfunded schemes – come from the com - bined contributions of both em - ployers and employees. It is likely each scheme will see thousands of members being forced out through redundancy and with recruitment at virtually zero, they will have no new mem - bers, meaning a financial Ar - Health cuts protest – See page 5 mageddon will loom in what could be a relatively short period of time. The schemes make projections and these will be based on pre- April 2015 membership levels. The projections take into consid - eration contribution income, no - tional or real in the case of funded schemes and investment returns. They also will be based on WHERE THE people staying in the scheme to their projected age of retirement or new age of retirement. If peo - ple go before this date, it places a strain on the fund as calcula - tions have to be done to assess the costs of early release of pen - sion costs, non-receipt of contri - butions, lost investment income, CUTS ARE the likelihood that the pension will be paid for a greater period given the link to life expectancy and age at retirement and, of course, putting the pension into early payment, if applicable. All of this could well result in the new scheme cost controls being exceeded. If so, they are GOING TO required to be brought under control by either increased em - ployee contributions or a reduc - tion in the schemesʼ benefits. It is also possible for a combina - See tion of these two measures being applied. inside NIPSA has already raised its HIT OUR concerns with DFP and other pages sponsoring department of schemes and has forcefully for made the point that any such costs must be paid by the em - more ployer as it is they who are driv - details ing the cuts and redundancy MEMBERS programme. CUTS Special edition 2015:Layout 1 13/1/15 17:21 Page 2 Page 2 NIPSA special cuts bulletin 300 plus jobs to go in the Housing Executive AS PART of its draft budget in voluntary service/voluntary ent working practices have not teers in this current round of proposals, the Department of early retirement were issued to yet been completed, it is too voluntary severance arrange - Social Development has indi - staff just before Christmas with early to consider letting any ments – it is not being done in cated that they expect the a deadline set for January 9. staff go as the current any managed process of intro - Housing Executive to shed Deputy General Secretary Ali - processes and ways of working ducing new ways of working between 300 to 400 jobs in son Millar told NIPSA News: are still in place and will be for a and working practices which the 2015/16 financial year. “While NIPSA were aware that period of time until the pilots are may have led to changes in Added to this, management at the Housing Executive were properly evaluated. grading structures.” the Housing Executive are proposing to restructure the or - “The current ʻslash and burnʼ NIPSA has called on mem - pressing ahead with an antici - ganisation, the current propos - approach is very damaging to bers in the Housing Executive pated 120 job losses in the cur - als are purely financially driven our members in the Housing to support a campaign of indus - rent financial year – before and are not part of any strategic Executive and must be resisted. trial action to defend the Hous - March 31, 2015. Notices con - proposal to restructure. “While no doubt the Housing ing Executive and the wider cerning expressions of interest “Given the two pilots on differ - Executive will get enough volun - public sector. Knock out blow as £1m cut from Sport NI budget SPORT NI, the leading public body for medal winners Paddy Barnes and deavour to increase the participation the development of sport in Northern Michael Conlan, Paralympic legends of youngsters in sport. The award- Ireland, is facing a cut of 11.2% to its Michael McKillop and Jason Smyth, winning Activ 8 programme, which budget. world champion cyclist Martyn Irvine encouraged more than 100,000 And this comes after the organisa - and Commonwealth Games bronze tion was told to make savings of medallist judo star Lisa Kearney schoolchildren to play sport, is al - £400,000 in the current financial year. achieve tremendous success. ready a cuts casualty. These savage cuts are a substantial A large proportion of the proposed NIPSA official Ryan Wilson told blow to NIPSA members employed by savings will be taken from grant pro - NIPSA News: “We must do all we can Sport NI, which has played such a grammes in such areas as perform - to ensure that the only cuts that take huge role in many recent triumphs for ance sport, coaching framework for place, is the cutting up of the draft Northern Ireland sport. sport, participation programmes as budget. It has helped Sports Institute North - well as club/governing body develop - ern Ireland (SINI) athletes such as his - ment. “By doing so, we can protect the de - tory-making Winter Paralympics The rest will come from savings on velopment of our young people, al - skiing champion Kelly Gallagher, staff. lowing them the ability to achieve all Commonwealth Games boxing gold Grassroots sport programmes en - they can on behalf of our country.” CUTS Special edition 2015:Layout 1 13/1/15 17:21 Page 3 NIPSA special cuts bulletin Page 3 NTHE INoHrtheRrn IreCland Hsumean rRivghtis ceson tihem provpisiona of cservticees. d by retod be ufilledc. ed budget Commission has announced that it will To offset the impact and make non-staff A source told NIPSA News: “Such suffer a 9.4% cut to its 2014/15 budget in savings, the NIHRC is moving to less ex - changes will serious impact on what serv - April next year, equating to a £1.1m re - pensive premises in 2015. ices and support can be provided by the duction. It will also be cutting back on its legal commission but management have stated While management and trade unions are costs, reducing its investigation capacity that core and statutory services will con - working to protect jobs and services, it is and rowing back on the use of consultants tinue and the commission will still be a voice anticipated there will be a significant impact on projects. Vacant posts are also unlikely championing human rights.” Museums’ role in society severely impacted by cuts SO, the austerity measures possible audience to inform and are working; thatʼs what the inspire their understanding of UK Government is telling us the past, the present and the fu - at any rate. Dig deep into ture of people, culture, places, your pockets; go check your and of the natural environment bank balance. Are they work - here and across the world”. ing in any way that you can We play a central role in the relate to? Not remotely. But preservation and accessibility of on a wider scale, what about history, art, culture and life for them; are these cuts effec - all the people of Ulster and be - tive? Is the economy reboot - yond. While many will point to ing? Not in any real sense. Health and Education as areas The truth is, the approach most worthy of protection (and adopted by this ConDem Gov - rightly so), the importance of ernment is designed and tar - NMNI within the cultural, educa - geted toward a very specific tional and tourism arenas can - purpose – to dismantle, demor - not be over-stressed. alise and destroy the public sec - Over the past decade, Na - ment over the past few years Against the backdrop of poten - tor. tional Museums Northern Ire - due to the impact of the cuts tial ʻexit schemesʼ and eco - Public services that people land has managed to secure being such that it is simply not nomic uncertainty, this is need, expect and actually want significant funding to revamp affordable for them to fully re - commendable. are being undermined in all many of our collections and ex - tire. That then creates a partial As you can imagine, circum - manner of ways by the restric - hibits, including the extensive gap within the workforce that stances dictate that avenues of tive and practically unworkable renovation of the Ulster Mu - simply cannot be replaced due external funding are being ex - budget restraints imposed from seum in Belfast. Thatʼs the to lack of funding resource. I plored for programming and as - Westminster and facilitated by good news. find it very difficult to equate job sociated projects, but when the Stormont Assembly. The reality is that, with the ad - losses with saving the econ - budget cuts of between 11% Each of us will have some un - ditional cuts about to bite, NMNI omy… and 15% are being attributed to derstanding of the impact the are being put in a position Museum programming and the organisation on top of the cuts have had and are having where the public will have lim - events that have far and wide previous reductions over the on our own working environ - ited or at times zero access to support may be curtailed or past few years, the financial ments.