Joint Expert panel report – a first response

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Yesterday, the long-awaited report from the Joint Expert Panel was released.  You can read the executive summary here , and the full report here. The report very much validates many of the arguments that UCU and activists have been rehearsing over the last year. Given the fact that the Panel was made up half of employer representatives and half of UCU representatives, it is perhaps notable that the conclusion are more in line with what UCU and First Actuarial have been arguing for many years than the statements we have seen from employers. UCU responded yesterday by saying that the report represents “a significant landmark in our ongoing campaign to defend members’ pensions.” Some key aspects of the report The JEP considered the manner in which the USS trustees use the ‘three tests’ to weigh up the affordability of contributions, and conclude that “too much weight” has been given to the long-controversial ‘Test 1’ which was now acting as a ‘constraint’ on benefit design and investment strategy, rather than guiding those decisions. The Panel state that USS had not given enough weight to the fact that our pension scheme is a large, cash-flow positive scheme and that the ’strength and … continue reading

USS pension joint expert panel report published

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The USS joint expert panel has published its report this afternoon. The joint expert panel was set up by UCU and Universities UK to try to establish a common understanding about the health of the USS pension scheme because UCU believed the proposal to end the defined-benefit pension scheme was based on a flawed evaluation. The report has been welcomed by both UCU national officers and Universities UK which represents the employers, as a basis for resuming talks on the pension scheme. Link to national UCU response We’ll publish a local response once UCU committee members have had a chance to read and digest the full report. … continue reading

USS consultation – a pause for thought

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Members will have received communications recently from the University and from UCU about the USS’s consultation over proposed changes to our pension. The consultation is a requirement upon USS, and was originally deferred as a result of the outcome of the dispute earlier this year, when it was originally scheduled for June. One of the important proposals that caused members to vote to freeze our dispute earlier this year, was the creation of the Joint Expert Panel (JEP) that would look into the pension valuation. We therefore don’t recommend that members respond to the USS consultation until the JEP reports. Leeds UCU will be in touch with members again once we have considered the implications of that report, with some recommended responses to the consultation. There’s no rush – you have until Friday 2nd November to respond to the consultation.Members who want begin to consider responding to the consultation, or wish to do so before the JEP reports, might wish first to read the recent UCU briefing for members on this issue. And perhaps read Sheffield UCU’s commentary on Twitter here.  The questions asked in the consultation cover: The removal of the 1% matchProposals over contributions above the salary thresholdIncreased contributions … continue reading

USS latest – announcement of ‘cost sharing’

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Update sent by branch vice president Tim Goodall to all members by email on Friday 3 August Dear UCU members, You will have seen that the USS pension scheme has announced it will implement a ‘cost-sharing’ package, meaning that both employers and employees will see increased contributions to our USS pension scheme. These increases will be staggered, and begin in April 2019, when our contributions will rise from 8% of salary to 8.8%. That will then increase to 10.4% after six months, and up to 11.7% in April 2020. Employers will see a similar phasing of increases, up to 24.9% by 2020. The employers’ 1% match of voluntary additional contributions will come to an end. The USS argues that these increases are necessary to make up the ‘deficit’ as calculated on certain disputed bases last year.  USS will consult with scheme members on these changes in September. The Joint Expert Panel was set up after the agreement of UCU members earlier this year, with a remit to look into that deficit. We do know that USS’s ‘accounting deficit’ has recently dropped from £17.5bn to £8.4bn, as a result of them applying different mortality and bond yield forecasts, demonstrating how pliable … continue reading

Report from UCU higher education special sector conference, 21 June

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The UCU HE sector conference on USS pensions had been achieved by 20-30 branches passing motions requisitioning a special meeting. This was to ensure continued member debate and input following the ending of the momentous strike action over USS. It was a useful conference enabling members to continue engagement with the processes at play in the USS dispute. The motions focussed on transparency and member involvement in the joint expert panel (JEP) and defending defined benefits. There was some discontent that only 2.5 hours had been allocated for the event, to which 27 motions had been submitted. Inevitably, five motions, including one from Leeds, fell off the agenda due to time constraints. The Leeds motion instructing our negotiators to oppose replacing our DB scheme with a collective defined contribution (CDC) scheme was passed. A motion calling on the CEO of USS, Bill Galvin, to resign was passed. The meeting was the start of the union’s membership introducing accountability into the latest developments in the USS campaign. Motions 1-12, 14 and 15 were passed and 16, 17, 18, 20, 21 were remitted to the Higher Education Committee. Motions a, c, d, e were voted back onto the agenda and passed with … continue reading