Paul Moffatt
Director & Leeds Office Head
Isio Leeds
I’m a Director in our public service team and lead our work in the healthcare sector, on the unfunded public service schemes and on pensions tax. I’m also part of the leadership team in our Leeds office working with a brilliant, dynamic group of people, from our talented new graduates to our senior team, many of whom I’ve worked with for over a decade. Becoming Isio has been an exciting journey and I’m certain we will continue to grow and make our mark on the industry.
I am proud to be on the steering committee of the Living Wage Foundation’s Living Pension project. The launch of this standard in March 2023 has changed the conversation about the minimum level of contributions to DC schemes required for a comfortable standard of living in retirement. The next phase of the project is to consider how the standard can be applied to defined benefit schemes.
Thinking about the defined benefit schemes in the public sector through this lens is interesting. Average member contributions to the NHS pension scheme are 9.8% of pay. This is much higher than the 5% assumed in the Real Living Wage calculation and is why many low paid workers in the NHS are opting out on affordability grounds. Every 1% counts in a cost of living crisis.
The answer has to be more flexibility, giving people the opportunity to change the balance between current pay, short term savings and long term savings (pension) to suit their circumstances. This will improve staff retention so is a “win win” for employers and employees. It can be done!
Get in touch
Talk to us today to see how our bolder thinking can get you better results.
Paul's colleagues
Partner
Partner
Partner
Partner & Head of Actuarial and Consulting
Partner