You’re not going to believe this. Even by UK standards this is a stonker.
A top Civil Servant spent his final working year as the stand-in head of Jobcentre Plus. Acting up, as it were. As a result of this he was rewarded with a 25% boost to his pension pot. He retired with a pension pot worth £1.75m.
It is interesting to note that during his tenure as chief executive of the job centres there was a 50% increase in the number of people on the dole.
A row has broken out over the award which has been described as being out of proportion for someone in the post temporarily and it has reminded us all of the debate over public sector pay and perks.
The civil servant in question is one Mel Groves whose pension value in March 2008, was £1.4m while he was chief operating officer for the agency. But because he stayed on to be the acting chief executive for one year the value of his fund rocketed. In March this year his fund was valued at £1.75m. Details of the package o
nly emerged in the Jobcentre Plus annual report.
He retired in November 2009 aged 63 if you please (when the Dept of Work and Pensions is demanding that everyone work to the age of 66).
The Department for Work and Pensions admitted the £1.75m pot "looks large" but insisted it was because Mr Groves "has worked for a long time".
Hmmmm? He retired at 63, damn it.
They went on to say that there was nothing unusual about it. It was in line with the pension scheme that he was on. Apparently his wage was £175,000-£179,000 in his last year.
During Mr Goves tenure the number of people collecting Jobseekers’ benefit rose from 1 million to 1.5 million. JC+ was in disarray due to what they call a "capacity challenge" and what we human beings would call too few staff, too few offices, and general mismanagement.
The TaxPayers' Alliance described this situation as an extreme case of gold-plated public sector pensions, which represent a huge liability for taxpayers.
Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger pointed out that the size of the retirement fund was at odds with the experience of people attending Jobcentres. He said that MPs were giving up their lucrative pension provision (awww) and senior civil servants should do the same.
It seems inconceivable that in a country facing the kind of financial challenges we are, and where the chancellor is indicating that he will be ruthless with the benefits of people using the services of this organisation, the boss can run away with a gold plated pension, for presiding over chaos.
Hopefully something will happen soon as the Paymaster General is looking into how many people in the Civil Service are being paid to do nothing. Whitehall admitted having 2,400 in what they call "redeployment pools", and what we human beings would call, people sitting around on their backsides getting paid for doing sod all.
In January, the MoD had 1,525 officials with no role, including about 60 who had been jobless for at least two years.
WHAT?
I suggest: Note from Osborne to Fox. Overall allowance to MoD for salaries reduced by amount due to 1,525 personnel. Action this day.
A top Civil Servant spent his final working year as the stand-in head of Jobcentre Plus. Acting up, as it were. As a result of this he was rewarded with a 25% boost to his pension pot. He retired with a pension pot worth £1.75m.
It is interesting to note that during his tenure as chief executive of the job centres there was a 50% increase in the number of people on the dole.
A row has broken out over the award which has been described as being out of proportion for someone in the post temporarily and it has reminded us all of the debate over public sector pay and perks.
The civil servant in question is one Mel Groves whose pension value in March 2008, was £1.4m while he was chief operating officer for the agency. But because he stayed on to be the acting chief executive for one year the value of his fund rocketed. In March this year his fund was valued at £1.75m. Details of the package o
nly emerged in the Jobcentre Plus annual report.He retired in November 2009 aged 63 if you please (when the Dept of Work and Pensions is demanding that everyone work to the age of 66).
The Department for Work and Pensions admitted the £1.75m pot "looks large" but insisted it was because Mr Groves "has worked for a long time".
Hmmmm? He retired at 63, damn it.
They went on to say that there was nothing unusual about it. It was in line with the pension scheme that he was on. Apparently his wage was £175,000-£179,000 in his last year.
During Mr Goves tenure the number of people collecting Jobseekers’ benefit rose from 1 million to 1.5 million. JC+ was in disarray due to what they call a "capacity challenge" and what we human beings would call too few staff, too few offices, and general mismanagement.
The TaxPayers' Alliance described this situation as an extreme case of gold-plated public sector pensions, which represent a huge liability for taxpayers.
Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger pointed out that the size of the retirement fund was at odds with the experience of people attending Jobcentres. He said that MPs were giving up their lucrative pension provision (awww) and senior civil servants should do the same.
It seems inconceivable that in a country facing the kind of financial challenges we are, and where the chancellor is indicating that he will be ruthless with the benefits of people using the services of this organisation, the boss can run away with a gold plated pension, for presiding over chaos.
Hopefully something will happen soon as the Paymaster General is looking into how many people in the Civil Service are being paid to do nothing. Whitehall admitted having 2,400 in what they call "redeployment pools", and what we human beings would call, people sitting around on their backsides getting paid for doing sod all.
In January, the MoD had 1,525 officials with no role, including about 60 who had been jobless for at least two years.
WHAT?
I suggest: Note from Osborne to Fox. Overall allowance to MoD for salaries reduced by amount due to 1,525 personnel. Action this day.
