badgerx16

Maybe you could ask the people who wrote that Parliamentary paper, or Lord Hutton who produced the original report. ( Not that I could possible accuse the Torygraph of having an agenda ).

http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn05823.pdf‎ "The LGPS is different in that, like Defined Benefit schemes in the private sector, it is funded. This means that contributions are paid into a fund, which is invested, and from which pension benefits are paid. " "“The LGPS pays out about £5bn each year in benefits and takes in £10bn in income. There is no cash crisis for some time and most schemes are cash positive for the next 14 to 20 years.”"

The taxpayer ( through the good offices of Central or Local Government ) is the employer, so this is hardly a surprise. This is up to the Government, who are already making significant changes to the schemes. Semantic argument - the LGPS is funded by 3 sources; the employer, the employee, and investment income from the funds. I suggest that a similar private sector scheme would be funded in exactly the same way. The lack of 'top-up' funding from the Treasury, in my eyes, means it is 'self funded'.

And what I am saying is that they don't "underwrite" the LGPS. And the irony of today's teachers strike, I get home to find my wife doing lesson plans - but she says she "didn't start until after half past three", so technically the strike day was over.

How exactly do you expect ANYTHING in the public sector to be funded ? Ultimately the money is public money, by definition, and a lot of the 'public' money spent by that sector ends up in the coffers of PRIVATE businesses. So who is funding their pensions, expenses, and bonuses in such instances ?

[h=2]What do we do best in this Country? Moan, whinge, and whine.[/h]

No, in the same way I cannot choose to stop funding foreign military adventures, or supplying overseas aid to countries with their own space programs. If your company became a supplier to the public sector, you would effectively be paid by public money, would you then decide to not take the benefits of that investment ?

Same as mine. The fact that my employer is technically the tax payer makes no difference.

What size would he be if he didn't have a healthy diet ?

Technically we are all paying for somebody else's pensions; when I retire the proceeds from the LGPS will be generated from the investment income, plus the contributions of those working at that time. The same with the state pension, what we pay in today gets paid out to the current batch of pensioners, when we get our entitlement, it will be the earning potential of today's teenagers that funds it ( ).

In which case Gove, as the fifth Horseman, will bury it forever.

She entered the profession as one of the job converts about 10 years ago, and yes, she starts at 8, she complains if I'm 5 minutes late dropping her off as she'll be the last one in.

Why do you think she's on strike today ? Edit : take a look at Gove's proposed reforms, including extending class hours - in theory if you add up all the statutory subject teaching hours for a primary class, there aren't enough hours in the school day to accommodate them.

How many days are children in school - depends on the parents ;-) How many hours do teachers do ? - My wife start at 8 and finishes at 5, then does about 2 hours at home. She also does about 3 hours at home on each term time weekend, plus some days during the hols. As for the 'overtime', not likely if they're Primary teachers.

The definition of self-funding means that there is no additional burden on the state to make a contribution to keep the funds operative, which there isn't with the LGPS. Yes there is an employers contribution whilst somebody is in employment, but there is no 'black hole' gap between the funds in the scheme and the demands placed upon it, which would otherwise require the Treasury to make budgetary commitments - which other public sector schemes do need. Question - do private sector pensions not have employer contributions ?

What would you call it when you have at least 10% taken from your budget for each of 5 successive years ? Mind you, I loved the quote from GO about Pickles the Hutt being the 'model of lean Government'.

Wow, what a surprise - how convenient. ( Do you honestly believe the ONS is 'independent' ? )

...

Was that on expenses ?

The LGPS is NOT managed by the Government, it follows rules set out by Parliament, but is administered by regional groups of Local Councils. http://www.lgps.org.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=100438

And what exactly is your experience of working in the Public Sector ? Or do you merely read the Daily Mail ?

Don't lump all public sector pensions into one bucket - Local Government schemes are self-funded, civil service, many NHS, and armed forces ones are funded by the state.

Maybe Manchester should sue Budweiser ? Bellevue is part of Gorton.

At the risk of monopolising the thread, from one of my favourite English poets : Slough Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough! It isn't fit for humans now, There isn't grass to graze a cow. Swarm over, Death! Come, bombs and blow to smithereens Those air -conditioned, bright canteens, Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans, Tinned minds, tinned breath. Mess up the mess they call a town- A house for ninety-seven down And once a week a half a crown For twenty years. And get that man with double chin Who'll always cheat and always win, Who washes his repulsive skin In women's tears: And smash his desk of polished oak And smash his hands so used to stroke And stop his boring dirty joke And make him yell. But spare the bald young clerks who add The profits of the stinking cad; It's not their fault that they are mad, They've tasted Hell. It's not their fault they do not know The birdsong from the radio, It's not their fault they often go To Maidenhead And talk of sport and makes of cars In various bogus-Tudor bars And daren't look up and see the stars But belch instead. In labour-saving homes, with care Their wives frizz out peroxide hair And dry it in synthetic air And paint their nails. Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough To get it ready for the plough. The cabbages are coming now; The earth exhales. ( Sir John Betjeman )

Allegedly the shortest poem in English, ( would be hard to get a shorter one ), entitled "Fleas" - but apparently originally named "Lines on the antiquity of microbes" ; Adam had 'em