Public sector on £50,000 pensions

Thousands of retired senior public sector workers receive pensions of more than £50,000 a year, it has been revealed.

For more than 100, the annual figure tops £100,000, according to information given to the Intergenerational Foundation (IF) in answers to Freedom of Information requests.

IF said that retired senior employees' pensions were being funded by their younger colleagues, and called for the practice to stop.

Angus Hanton, the co-founder of IF, said: "Younger union members are being encouraged into protecting much more generous pensions than they themselves will get.

"Unions have a responsibility to ensure that they protect the rights of all members."

A total of 12,082 retired public sector workers collect more than £50,000 a year, IF found - 72% of whom are doctors. A total of 148 collect more than £100,000 a year.

The foundation, set up to 'promote fairness between generations', has called for a new, funded public sector pension fund to protect the rights of workers.