The ConLAB government..

You do know public sector workers pay tax and NI and make pension contributions.The LGPS produces a surplus that goes to the treasury as does the NHS scheme . Also private sector schemes are now protected by the public purse . You spend your money how you want as long as you also pay your fair share of tax , a private education in the main gives a false sense of entitlement, unless you attended a few of the top schools which do afford its alumni a degree of privilege . There are as many poor private schools as there are state ones

 

Fair enough, I personally think it's fair to tax those who choose to privately educate their children.

 

the point is that because of the gold plated nature of the public sector schemes , they cost the taxpayer £20bn a year. Whilst they pay tax and NI , the money they pay in is knowhere near enough to cover the shortfall - which is obviously picked up by private sector workers aswell - don’t forget that public s3ctor workers pay around 12.5% of their wage and the government (or should I say tax payers) lump in around 2.5 times that on top! the solution to this is straight forward - the members of these schemes either pay more in or there has to be strings attached ie reduced sick pay, reduced employer contributions. The schemes are far too generous and not sustainable

Too right private pensions are protected! I’m self employed and there’s no one else throwing money in for me , likewise if the fund the money is invested in is the same as for example the NHS scheme, I’m reliant on fund performance rather than being guaranteed a set amount - if the fund performs crap the nhs worker gets what they’re promised , I have to consider whether I need to work for longer. Have a guess who has to pay for the funds crap performance? The taxpayers

I have to disagree with the sense of entitlement-a university degree breeds this more than a private school education from what I’ve seen over the years. I think there’s quite a narrow minded view (I’m not saying you’re one of them by the way) when it comes to private education

 

I think most parties would have had this on the agenda as it’s a sitting target

it is what it is and it’s just another bigger bill!!

 

Starmer didn't really benefit from it - school was converted after he joined the school. Think we all make sacrifices for our children - mine weren't privately educated they went where they felt happy- left uni with a 2:1 and a first.

From working in both private and public education I wouldn't say standard of education is much better. Think state education actually does better with children starting at a lower point. Privately educated children tend to have better support at home and more chances- makes a big difference

 

Typical thread.

Right wing reform voters screaming about pensioners, they couldn’t really give a #### about. Throw in private school fees they couldn’t really give a #### about too, throw in some loose accusations about politicians claiming expenses without checking how much the grinning buffoon has claimed from both the EU parliament which he never went… or our which he doesn’t go.

Labour aren’t attacking pensioners, or the young etc. they are going after the rich and good on em for it.

 

Don't think you have read the thread properly.

 

i think I have. No surprise its you who replied.

 

average LGPS pension is £4000 a year hardly gold plated , LGPS employers contributions range from 14-18% , the figures you quote are for Civil Service pension scheme . I know people who send their children to private school and make financial sacrifices to do so on the assumption they are giving their children ‘the best start in life’, it baffles me when there are perfectly good state schools where they live , but that’s their choice

 

It's great cutting pensioners WFA as there all millionaires and don't need the money. But if your the party who brought it in and your still taking fuel allowance to heat your home and 2nd home and other allowance like food etc when you don't need it as your house brings in over 300k your a parasite and a hypocrite and if it was the other party people like you would be pulling it.

 

He won't answer that as he can't because your right.

 

Silly argument. The so-called 'research' is not current, and was commissioned by a different Labour Party with different motives. If there was any serious suggestion that means-testing the WFA would lead to loss of life (it won't) then I'm absolutely confident this Labour government would not go near it. It's an untargeted benefit, and assistance should go to those who really need it.

 

Child. Benefit next then !!

 

LGPS is a defined benefit pension - the average you quote is based on years service paid and salary, so the average you quote is brought down by someone for example who has 2 years service , so this isn’t a true representation of the actual benefit being received by the worker - if you overlaid that 2 years with a private pension equivalent it would be knowhere near for the same contributions

 

Aye those different motives being actually wanting to make peoples lives better, unlike the current lot.

 

There are a lot of low paid workers in Local Government , and it’s based on career average . I know people who work in the private sector on very generous pension schemes . Civil Service and NHS are considered the most advantageous schemes LGPS doesn’t even get in the top 10 with Loyds , Nationwide , coming in the top 5 , it’s a bit of a myth that all public sector pension are better than private sector pensions

 

You've got a window !

 

There's a lot to unpack in this, but I guess the first question is what percentage of the workforce do you think have a university education, and what percentage do you think is privately educated? And how many privately educated kids do you think don't go on to university?

On pensions, I've worked in the public sector and now I run my own business. The small DB pension I've got my from my days in the civil service is welcome, but it came at the cost of salary. 1% a year was all you got, for maybe a decade. You couldn't get any more, no matter how capable you were - that was it.

I'll enjoy my well-earned fifty quid a week when I turn 68, don't get me wrong (state pension age, mind, not when we can take our DC funds). With hindsight I'd have been much better off in the private sector though, as would anybody else who entered the workforce this century.

 

I left the private sector to work in the public sector. At the time I felt the drop in wages was worth it to receive the security of public sector, pensions, job security, pay progression etc, etc, how wrong I was. To have the level of responsibility that we had and to see our pay regression to such an extent that many of us were on Minimum wage, was insulting, scandalous and many other things. The private sector would struggle to attract staff to work with similar level of responsibility as we’ve done for the paltry wage. Edit, forgot to add, I’m now retired and my monthly pension is ****

 

88 Children died directly from Covid in the UK between 2020 and November 2022. In 2023, it was found to be the 8th biggest cause of death in children and young people in the USA (1300 Jan 2021-Dec 2022).

That doesn't include the indirect deaths.