Final Salary Schemes for Civil Servants
At last something within my area of expertise! At present, civil servants who joined before July 2008 do get final-salary based pension (at 60). Those who join after that date get pension based on average career earnings (at 65), and have to make a (modest) contribution toward it. There is political discussion regarding making the civil service pension in future a defined contribution scheme. There is, so far, no discussion of retrospectively reducing the value of pensions in payment, or rights already accrued - so far as I know not in either public or private sector employment. If a pension company fails (Equitable Life) this can happen. At present it is unclear if the Government will have to pick up the slack in such a case.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of all this may be, if pensions to existing retired civil servants were to be reduced, this would be seen as the Treasury defaulting on its obligations, with all that would imply for the ability of the Government to raise money through bond issues.