Hutton will head probe into future of public sector pensions
Share
Former Labour Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton is to lead an independent commission into the future for public sector pensions.
Chancellor George Osborne announced Hutton’s appointment at the weekend to bring a “cross-party perspective” to a “national problem”.
Hutton was Work and Pensions Secretary between November 2005 and June 2007 and famously raised concerns about the prospect of Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister.
However, he continued to serve under Brown as Business Secretary from June 2007 to October 2008 and Defence Secretary until June 2009, when he quit the Cabinet. Hutton did not stand at the general election and has recently joined the board at US energy company Hyperion Power Generation.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC 1 last Sunday, Osborne said: “The Public Sector Pension Bill is unsustainable and the Office for Budget Responsibility, an office we have created, has shown this and we do have to tackle it.”
Osborne said Hutton “is a man with real intelligence and knowledge in this area”.
He said: “He is going to bring a cross-party perspective to what is a national problem.”
If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Money Marketing and Follow @_moneymarketing
Readers' comments (2)
Anonymous | 24 Jun 2010 9:28 pm
I am slightly confused why the government have announced an independent review of public sector pensions when David Cameron and Nick Clegg are all over the press telling anyone who will listen what the outcome will be
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Richard Slater | 7 Jul 2010 1:01 pm
Already retired public sector workers should have their pensions protected - but have already had the index-linked element reduced, from RPI to CPI. This amounts to breach of contract on the part of the government. We have paid for our pensions, they are not a government benefit
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment