The union is challenging by way of a judicial review the government’s implementation of changes to the civil service compensation scheme, which governs payments for redundancy and early retirement based on years of service.
Because the changes are detrimental to existing civil and public servants, the union will say the government had no authority to amend the scheme without the agreement of PCS - by far the largest of the civil service unions.
The current scheme, which the government claims it amended on 1 April, is the latest version of arrangements established in 1972 by the Superannuation Act. Section 2(3) of the Act states no changes can be made that reduce “any pension, allowance or gratuity” without agreement.
While the government claims the scheme is merely discretionary, there is not a single case in 38 years where discretion has ever even been considered, let alone exercised. Nor is there any system in place by which this discretion might be determined, who would make the decision and what form an appeal might take.
The court will be asked to quash the amendment to the compensation scheme, which would force the government to return to the negotiating table to seek the union’s agreement on a new scheme.
PCS believes that the extent of the cuts would pave the way for the next government to make massive job cuts and privatise more public services.
To mark the start of the two-day hearing PCS reps will be demonstrating outside the Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London, from 8am.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “We have always accepted that changes had to be made to the scheme, but all we ask is that they are fair and reasonable, and that we can make them by agreement.
"We believe we have a strong case but this is not our only avenue. PCS members have already shown they are prepared to take industrial action to defend their jobs and the public services they provide, and we will be knocking on the door of the next government very early on to remind them that they need to reach an agreement with us.”
As part of the campaign against the cuts to the compensation scheme, 200,000 PCS members took three days of strike action in March, including on budget day. The union has also had political support with 176 MPs, including 121 Labour backbenchers, signing a parliamentary motion opposing the cuts.
Update, 5pm Friday 23 April: The court hearing is now complete and judgement has been reserved. PCS expects a result in about a week and full details will be published here as soon as they are available.
