Following on from her criticism of the budget proposals for the new Shropshire Council Heather Kidd has called for the escalating council pension costs not to lead to front-line cuts.
Commenting on figures from the Office for National Statistics that show a £400m or 8% rise in the amount council taxpayers are contributing to the Local Government Pension Scheme, Heather Kidd said: “The Government must ensure that the escalating costs of local government pensions do not force councils to cut teachers or social workers and damage front-line services. Local authorities that are already having to tighten their belts now have to meet extra pension costs and it seems that council taxpayers will be forced to make up the difference. People already paying the unfair council tax will find this additional tab especially hard to stomach. Council taxpayers are already facing huge bills without having to meet the mounting cost of public sector pensions.”