Kent News: King defends spending on pensions at county hall

The amount that Kent County Council pays out in pensions contributions has risen to more than £70 million a year, according to a new report.


 According to a report by the Taxpayers’ Alliance campaign group, KCC has the third biggest pensions spend of any local authority in the UK, behind only Birmingham and Glasgow.


 In 2006-07, the group claims KCC paid out £71,700,000 – or £52 per person in the county. That is up by 12.9 per cent on the previous year.


 Matthew Sinclair, policy analyst for the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “Kent’s is a huge spend. These pensions are the results of high numbers of staff and high rates of pay.”


 Cllr Alex King, KCC deputy leader, said the conditions and costs of its pension scheme is “wholly determined” by central government and accused the Taxpayers’ Alliance of “attacking authorities for something they are not responsible for”.


 He said: “KCC is legally responsible for managing the pension arrangements of around 200 public bodies in Kent, including Medway Council and the 12 district councils.


 “The Government has supposedly been reviewing the scheme since 2001. Kent County Council has repeatedly argued that the costs of the scheme must be reduced, which can only be done by the individuals who are members of the scheme paying more.


 “In the face of resistance from trade unions the Government has only tinkered with the scheme with the result that costs of the new scheme introduced this year have gone up slightly.


 “We will continue to do all we can to keep pension costs down and demand that Government takes the necessary action to reduce the burden on Kent’s council tax payers.”