‘Town Hall pin pushers’ pocket £1 in £4 of YOUR council tax | Politics

At least £1 in every £4 of council tax goes directly to funding the retirement of “town hall letter writers”, figures show.

The figures show 254 authorities paid £5bn into their staff’s pensions last year, an average of 23.5% of their council tax revenue.

Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “For every £4 raised in council tax now, £1 will be spent on local government pensions.”

“This is money that cannot be used for pothole repairs, regular trash collection or running the local library.

“Probably most significantly, this money is not going to adult social care, one of the biggest and growing drains on council finances.

“So if your council tax goes up, as it almost certainly will, remember: £1 in every £4 of those pounds goes directly towards funding the retirement of town hall clerks. And under this Labor government this situation is only expected to get worse.”

Local authorities can increase the property tax by 3% and the adult social care provision by 2% in 2025-2026 without the need for a local referendum.

The local authority that paid the highest amount into its staff pension last year was Hampshire County Council. It contributed £281 million, equivalent to £4,658 per employee – although this was intended to cover three years of contributions.

Birmingham City Council, which declared bankruptcy last year, paid the second highest amount at £141.7 million.

The figures, obtained through freedom of information requests, mean the average household effectively pays more than £230 a year directly into council staff pensions.

The data, first published by The Times, showed that 14 local authorities paid more than half of the money they collected in council tax into their pensions.

Tom McPhail, pensions expert at financial adviser Lang Cat, said: “Given today’s economy and the decline of private sector pensions, it is extremely difficult to justify the local system’s continued generosity.

“If you look back 30 years, it would have been relatively unremarkable and similar to what the FTSE 100 companies were offering.

“The difference is that private sector employers were initially unwilling and then unable to bear the cost of such generous pensions. But the public sector, and in this case the local government system, simply carried on blithely, relying on self-funding from local taxpayers to subsidize their pensions.”

The Local Government Association, which represents local councils, said: “Local government staff provide hundreds of essential services every day.” However, more than nine in 10 local authorities are experiencing problems recruiting and retaining staff.

“The pension system can help encourage people to pursue a career in local government. Since pay in local government is often lower than comparable positions in the private sector, the system can mitigate this while helping public sector workers avoid claiming benefits in retirement.

The spokesman added that the system was “more robust” than most other public sector pensions and that employer contribution rates were generally lower.