New pension scheme for civil servants

The decision was made after a ballot on Monday and the new terms will come into play on April 1.

The new agreement will reform 15 public service schemes into a single final salary programme, which will bring pension arrangements under local control. 

The government claims this makes them simpler and more affordable.

The Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, Alf Cannan, said: "I am delighted at the outcome of the ballot and am very grateful to the Union for its participation in the discussions and its commitment to reaching agreement on the implementation of GUS. 

"During the course of the discussions Government listened to, and acted upon, the points raised by the Union on behalf of all our staff and made a number of important changes to the proposed reform. As a result GUS offers civil servants a robust, flexible, sustainable final salary pension scheme.” 

Mr Cannan added that the introduction of the GUS would provide civil servants with greater pension certainty and security going forward. 

He described the new scheme as ‘demonstrably better’ than the deal on offer to many public servants in the UK, and said he looked forward to working to progress its implementation.