The TfL Pension Fund is in good health, an independent review into the transport operator's pension scheme has concluded. Unions said the report vindicates the workforce and exposes the review as politically motivated. 

 

London’s transport service has been at the centre of a spat between the capital’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan and Conservative central government. Funding from the government granted in June last year came on the condition that the transport operator’s open final salary scheme should be reviewed, and the government is demanding that TfL make some major cuts. 

 

The pensions review, led by Sir Brendan Barber with the help of Joanne Segars, did not depart from the interim report published in December, which had proposed four options – none of which included a switch to defined contribution: 

 

   

   

The final report calls the pension fund, which is showing a small surplus according to the draft results of a 2021 valuation, “well run and highly valued”. It did not make detailed recommendations on a route forward for the pension provision, saying it was for TfL to decide if it wants to maintain the scheme or reduce provision in light of funding pressures. 

 

 

TSSA, the largest union in TfL, called the review “politically motivated from a Tory government seeking to punish Londoners and drive a wedge between the Labour London Mayor and TfL’s workforce in the run up to local elections” in early May this year. 

 

Unions including TSSA and the RMT have threatened with strikes should there be any changes to the pension scheme. Any attempt to lower the value of the pension provision “is a red line and we will ballot for strike action”, said Manuel Cortes, TSSA general secretary. 

 

The independent review “has shown what we knew all along – that TfL’s pension fund is viable and there is no need to slash workers’ pensions. This is a vindication for TfL workers,” he said. 

 

The six-month review, funded by taxpayers, was “all for a politically motivated agenda aimed at punishing London”, Cortes added, arguing that the government had been “happy to bail out private train operators and their shareholders when the pandemic hit, but at every opportunity they have shackled TfL with strings and conditions to get funding to keep vital transport services running". 

 

Train drivers’ union Aslef also welcomed the report. It equally threatened with strike action should TfL change the pension provision, and pointed out that primary legislation might be required if TfL wanted to change the scheme without staff agreeing. 

 

Finn Brennan, a full-time organiser on London Underground, said changes would have a huge negative impact on retirement incomes.

“If TfL or the government try to force through detrimental changes the result will be sustained and hard-hitting industrial action. After decades of public service in a difficult and demanding job, our members deserve to be able to retire with dignity,” said Brennan.