A public sector pay freeze should be enforced, according to Yorkshire police chief, Sir Norman Bettison.
The head of the region's largest police force receives a yearly salary of £163,000 yet he believes high-ranking public servants are paid too much and this has left the UK's economy in an "untenable situation", reports the Yorkshire Post.
He said that he thought the only way the problem could be solved was by introducing drastic measures such as "freezing the pay and entitlement of Britain's 6.1 million public sector workers".
However, unions have come forward to criticise the calls from the well-paid chief constable.
Regional officer of the GMB union, Neil Derrick, told the Bradford Telegraph and Argus that a pay freeze was not necessary, adding: "I'm always sceptical when very highly-paid people guess the solution...is to freeze the already very low pay of millions of public servants."
Cutting the costs of public services is one of the key general election issues that all political parties are keen to address in their manifestos in order to reduce the deficit that exists in the UK economy.
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Comments
He's quite right. Public sector pensions should be bought into line with those in the private sector as well.
Mike's comments demonstrate a lack of understanding of what some of these public sector workers have to do to earn their pension. I served in the Armed Forces - we were paid 24/7/365, often worked in excess of 80 hours per week - very poorly for the responsibility that we had - and often had to buy our own equipment and clothing - people still do. We even had to pay on top of the standard charges for food and accommodation to bring standards up to a reasonable standard to live in - even to entertain offical guests. However when I became a managment planner, we would annually have to fight tooth and nail for our budget which included the money for our pensions. The Treasury would not give us the money but "honour" the liability - in fact they did not plan or invest it - even in Government bonds but use it to balance the books. It is common for Armed Forces pensioners not to survive much beyond 60 because of the effect of service on their lives - and their partners have a reduced pension - not the pot they have contributed to over their demanding careers. How many people in the private sector are prepared to stand and be spat upon, be bricked or petrol-bombed, run past terrorist bombs to clear people from their homes - put their lives on the line for the country or have to drop their main job to fight fires, guard prisons, dispose of cattle with foot & mouth, empty bins? The real problem with publc sector pensions is the result of negligence by the Treasury - if they had to comply with the regulations for private pension schemes, they would be disbarred as Directors or in prison for fraud: this problem would not exist.
You're right Steven, the armed forces are a different kettle of fish and I for one respect enormously the job you and others do. There are many public sector workers that don't work in anywhere near such conditions however that get significantly better pension arrangements than is the norm in the private sector. There needs to be a sensible debate on the subject that reflects our changing demographics.