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Commenting in advance of the publication on Thursday of John Hutton's long-awaited review of public sector pension provision, FDA General Secretary Jonathan Baume said:

"Lord Hutton is expected to propose the most profound changes to public sector pensions seen for many decades, and his report will require careful analysis. But senior public servants will be suspicious of agreeing changes when the Government is already demanding substantial increases in contribution rates in order to claw back £2.8 billion in pension costs, whilst at the same time slashing the value of pensions by at least 15% simply by changing the index for annual uprating from RPI to CPI from April this year.

"The FDA has repeatedly made clear our view that any changes to existing pension arrangements must be negotiated and agreed as a package, and not simply imposed. Negotiations in the coming months will be very difficult, and no public sector union has ruled out the possibility of industrial action. Moreover, civil servants see their pension as part of their overall reward package and, if pension benefits are to be cut, managers will expect higher pay to compensate."

Notes for editors

1. The FDA is the trade union and professional body representing 18,000 of the UK's senior civil and public servants. Our members include policy advisors, senior managers, tax inspectors, economists, statisticians, accountants, special advisers, government lawyers, diplomats, crown prosecutors and NHS managers.

2. Members in HMRC are represented by the Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC), a section of the FDA.

3. The FDA (formerly the First Division Association) should be referred to simply as "The FDA" and can be described as "the senior public servants' union".

4. For further information contact:

• Jonathan Baume, FDA General Secretary, tel: 020 7401 5555 or 07976 951191.
• Oliver Rowe, Communications Manager, tel: 020 7401 5588 or 07590 838696.