Tynwald Members’ Pensions The total sum payable in pensions to politicians for 2009/10 stood at ?574,734.20. There are 45 pensions in payment – 28 to former members and 17 to dependents. Widow(er)s’ pensions are paid at 75% of the total pension of the member. Orphans are paid at either ? or 1/3 depending on circumstances. The average pension payable to a political member, excluding dependents, according to the latest written answers to a Keys question was: Male (23 in total) ?15,402.57 Female (5 in total) ?15,293.71 Total pension in payment (?574,734.20) divided by number of relevant Tynwald members (33) gives a simple average cost per Tynwald member for pension as ?17,416.19 Tynwald members contribute 0% towards their pensions. UK MPs do make a contribution. No plans have been released to reform or change Tynwald pensions to date. Tynwald members work a five year fixed term contract. Many workers in the public and private sector work shorter fixed term contracts and are not provided with pension scheme membership of any kind. Please see overleaf for comparative information on public sector pensions. Public Sector Pensions All public sector employees contribute 1.5% - 6.5% as standard, with many contributing more depending on whether they work in a particular sector (e.g. Firemen) or if they wish to purchase extra pension. Average pensions for public sector workers on island compare as follows: Over HALF of the civil service get a pension at present under ?7K per annum Almost 2/3 of health workers get a pension at present under ?7K per annum AND nearly 50% get a pension under ?5K per annum. Whitley manual workers get the worst pensions on average – under ?2.5K per annum for a female and under ?6K per annum for a male. There is a big gender gap in pensions on island – e.g. on average female civil servants get a pension almost ?8K less than their male counterparts. Government are currently proposing public sector pension reform which will mean higher contributions for members of schemes – cutting real income in the years prior to pension. It is likely that most, if they go at their current pension age, will get smaller pensions then now. The Government are proposing to keep a final salary scheme in the public sector. Until a new IOM specific scheme is introduced some new public entrants enter a pension scheme section called NUVOS. It has a higher pension age and is a career average scheme. In time it is inevitable that contributions would rise for all public sector scheme members. NUVOS would eventually become the scheme for over half of public sector workers. NUVOS is a less beneficial scheme for employees than the one the IOM Government is seeking to introduce. Private Sector Pensions Private sector pension schemes have suffered from massive reform in recent years. Many final schemes are simply not available or pension provision has ceased altogether. This has led to a call for ‘levelling down’ in the public sector not ‘levelling up’ in the private sector where often that is simply not possible. On island our members tell us that public sector pensions often provide pension provision for families where one spouse has little or no pension provision. In the absence of schemes, the inevitable fall out will be in the state pension and state benefits system. One way or another it is likely the taxpayer will pay for the lack of pension provision in the private sector and the scaling down of public sector pension provision. There appears to be no analysis by the Manx Government of how current reform or lack of pension provision will impact on state finances in a more holistic sense in future. ENDS