No deficit = no detriment

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The latest development in the ongoing USS saga sees the revelation that USS themselves seem to have failed to correctly apply their own ’Test 1’, and that when this is corrected there is no deficit in the scheme as of March 2018. If there is no deficit, then there is no longer any argument for any change to our contributions or for any ‘benefit reform’, the euphemism we hear often which means changes to how much we receive in pension, and the means by which it is calculated. This seeming flaw has been exposed by Sam Marsh, a member of the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC). ‘Test1’ and ‘self-sufficiency’ The USS have three tests which they apply in coming to a valuation.* Of these, Test 1 considers the viability of achieving a ‘self-sufficiency’ position in 20 years. ‘Self-sufficiency’ is, in effect, a position whereby all owed pensions can be paid without significant further contributions to the scheme from employers or employees. The Joint Expert Panel (JEP) expressed concern about Test 1 as “given too much weight in determining the valuation and its effects extend beyond its original purpose” (p. 8) and that specifically “Test 1 drives the investment strategy toward a … continue reading

Open Meeting on USS pensions 11 October

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Come to this meeting, open to all, to discuss our progress towards saving the USS defined-benefit pension scheme, what the next steps are and how scheme members might respond to the current USS consultation. Thursday 11 October, 2 – 3 pmDental Lecture Theatre (level 6, Worsley building) A key outcome of the historic 14-day strike by UCU members in February and March this year was the creation of a joint expert panel to review the controversial valuation of USS which had led to USS trying to close the defined-benefit scheme. The panel’s report should now totally change the landscape of the pension negotiations and may affect how scheme members want to respond to the current USS consultation. In this meeting we’ll discuss the Joint Expert Panel report and what happens next.  The meeting will be chaired by Mark Taylor-Batty, our resident pensions expert, with an appearance by Sam Marsh, Sheffield mathematician and national UCU pensions negotiator.  Members may remember Sam visiting us in February to give a wonderfully clear explanation of the USS pensions situation – see video of that talk. Bring your questions and comments.All welcome! … continue reading

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