Public sector pay increase
“Given the challenges faced by public sector workers in the past 18 months, a pay boost felt like the least the Chancellor could offer today – particularly after the Government “paused” public sector wage increases last year.
“Indeed, given the role frontline workers such as nurses and teachers have played in getting the country through the pandemic, failing to reward this with a real-terms wage increase would likely have sparked a full-on revolt from trade unions.
“However, as with the rise in the National Living Wage, the impact of inflation has to be taken into account when assessing the generosity of these pay deals.
Disappointment on NMPA
“Plans to increase the minimum pension access age to 57 are wrong-headed and risk hard-wiring unnecessary complexity into an already too complicated pensions system for decades to come.
“We had hoped the Chancellor would use today’s Budget to announce a much-needed rethink on a proposed ‘protection’ regime that means some people will randomly be able to retain a ‘normal minimum pension age’ of 55 from April 2028 while others will see their minimum access age rise to 57.
“The proposals, if introduced, will inevitably lead to increased activity from scammers, who will attempt to use the confusion caused to fleece people of their hard-earned retirement savings.
“What’s more, this complexity risks undermining other Government initiatives designed to improve the pensions system, including the introduction of new Pensions Dashboards designed to allow people to see all their retirement pots in one place online.
“Time is fast running out for the Treasury to see sense and, at the very least, pause the planned increase in the minimum access age until a more sensible solution can be figured out.”
