Union launches appeal against High Court pension decision

The FDA - together with GMB, Prospect, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Civil Service Pensioners' Alliance (CSPA) - has today launched an appeal against the High Court decision to reject the challenge to the Government's decision to change the public sector pensions uprating index from the retail prices index (RPI) to the consumer prices index (CPI).

Jonathan Baume, FDA General Secretary, said: "We have always said that we will use every avenue available to challenge this decision. The court gave us leave to appeal on two areas and we will be appealing both. We will continue to challenge where it makes sense to do so and where there is a reasonable prospect of success."

Baume added that the FDA "has sought all along to have any decision on the uprating mechanism included in the overall negotiations on future pension arrangements. However, the Government refused to consider this and, as a result, we were left with no option but to consider a legal challenge."

On average, CPI increases at a slower rate than RPI, so the effect of the switch is that pensions will increase at a slower rate and their purchasing power will reduce over time. This change delivers significant cost savings for the Government.