PUBLIC SERVICE PENSIONS A PROMISE, NOT A LIABILITY: REFORM MUST RETHINK STANCE

LONDON, 5 NOVEMBER 2025 Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice has been urged not to target public service pensioners as he outlines plans to balance the nation’s books.

Later Life Ambitions (LLA), which represents more than 250,000 older people across the UK, said Mr Tice’s recent remarks describing public service pensions as “an undefined liability with flaps on the side of it” and the State Pension triple lock as “unsustainable” are both misleading and unfair.

David Luxton, Deputy General Secretary of the Civil Service Pensioners’ Alliance and spokesperson for Later Life Ambitions, said:

“Civil service pensions are a promise, not a liability. They are a cornerstone of public service, providing modest but vital income security for those who dedicated their working lives to serving the country.

“The ‘gold-plated’ myth bears no resemblance to reality. The average civil service pension is around £9,750 a year. That’s a modest sum that reflects steady, not lavish, earnings. Civil service schemes have been reformed repeatedly to ensure fairness and sustainability. They are clearly defined, not open-ended or uncontrolled.”

Mr Luxton added that calling the State Pension triple lock “unsustainable” ignores the essential protection it provides to millions of older people facing rising living costs.

“Older people have already paid in all their lives. The triple lock isn’t a luxury. It’s a safeguard against hardship. Undermining it would break faith with pensioners who have contributed to the nation for decades.”

LLA has called for a measured and fact-based cross-party discussion about pensions, recognising the diversity of outcomes across the public sector and the value of long-term financial security for all older people.