Speech from the Chairman of the Superannuation Committee, Dr Simon Fradd
Wednesday 2 July 2003
Conference will know that the year has been dominated by the GP contract negotiations and by the continuing concerns of consultants about their contractual position.
The GP contract negotiations were intense, lengthy and highly technical. A great deal was achieved, including:
- A future method of calculating the dynamising factor which we believe will produce big increases in pensions over the next three years
- The extension of superannnuable income to encompass all NHS GP income
- All GP locum work to be superannuable, backdated to April 2002
- GP co-op work to be superannuable for doctors and staff
- Improvements on the treatment of pre-GP, concurrent GP and post-GP salaried work.
These are very substantial achievements indeed in the context of a pensions world where final salary pension schemes are under fierce attack, with many companies abandoning their final salary schemes.
We are also working closely with consultant colleagues as they continue their struggle for a better contract and we share their alarm at the prospect of extra pay through non-pensionable incentive payments.
The Government has announced a review of the NHS pension scheme to be led by the NHS Confederation. This will encompass a proposed increase in the retirement age from 60 to 65, their recent pensions green paper and taxation paper and important issues still pending from the earlier but inconclusive modernisation review. Motions to this conference demonstrate that members are aware of many of these issues and concerned about them. We will be pursuing the profession's interests forcefully in negotiations. These negotiations will also involve the other health service trade unions and we believe that we should also involve other public sector trade unions so as to present the Government with a united and forceful opposition to the unacceptable aspects of the proposed changes.
Apart from these high profile issues, we have continued to work closely with other BMA committees on a range of issues including the pension arrangements of flexible trainees, armed forces doctors and clinical academics.
Quite apart from policy issues, the Superannuation Department is continuing its excellent work in dealing with a heavy volume of enquiries from members, running mid career and pre-retirement seminars, and also supporting the Occupational Health Committee in its important work.
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