Stephen J. Cowley

Links

USS

• Official USS consultation website (it is tempting to conclude that Robert Armstrong acted as a consultant to whoever put together the website).
• The information provided here is mainly a repackage of what was provided in the USS consultation leaflet distributed to all members of USS; in addition there is an interactive benefit modeller (for the effect of the proposed change to the national pension age if you retire between 60 and 65), and a cost of contribution illustrator (for the change in the cost of monthly contributions). Like the leaflet, the consultation website neither illustrates nor discusses capping or the CARE scheme in any detail.
• The employers' Need for Reform document is available from the USS website.
• A summary of the website (by Bruce Beckles and myself, with any errors being my fault).
• A copy of the feedback form (so that you can inspect it without needing to login).
• USS rules.
• USS actuarial valuations.
• USS publications and presentations, including USS member reports.

UCU

• UCU's website on the pension changes. There is useful information here if you can find it. For instance:
  • Comments on the prospects for the future funding of the USS by UCU's actuary (the most useful document I have found on a UCU badged website).
  • Two replies to the employers' Need for Reform document: A UCU Perspective and A UCU Riposte.
  • UCU's FAQ on the proposed changes.
  • Scroll down this page to read 11 questions you should ask your employer about USS.
  • The alternative changes to USS proposed by UCU in June 2010.
• The Leeds UCU website on the consultation, including USS Pensions: What You Should Know (the second most useful document I have found on a UCU badged website).

Referenda, etc.

• Information on the current UCU referendum. If you are a member of USS, whether a UCU member or not, who has not received a link to take part, send an email to consultation@ucu.org.uk with the subject line: Defend USS.
• Results of the May 2010 UCU Ballot on the then proposed changes to USS.
• An Oxford Congregation Resolution about ensuring proper consultation on the USS proposals.

Article by Susan Cooper and Myself

• The What do the USS pension changes mean? article that Susan Cooper and I wrote for the Oxford Magazine. I have also made a typeset version available, which has the advantage of including includes Tim Horder's editorial, but the disadvantage that the hyperlinks do not work.
• The spreadsheet that we used for the article can be downloaded (in case you want to make your own calculations); note that this is a working document and not a user-friendly calculator.
• Comments on this article are welcomed on on Susan's bulletin board.

Resources on RPI, CPI, etc.

• Letter on the RPI and CPI from the President of the Royal Statistical Society to the UK Statistics Authority. I note that he did "not feel that CPI should have sole star billing", that "both indices have drawbacks", and that the CPI "is not necessarily the best index for all purposes".
• BBC article and Telegraph article on the switch of some pensions to CPI from RPI.
• RPI data and CPI data.

Other Resources

• Interim Report of the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission.