OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
This from Maggie Nelmes, Ventnor. Ed
A tense mood gripped the Isle of Wight Council Chamber on 18th February, as I watched the Pensions Fund Committee meeting with increasing concern.
Councillors had just been briefed with the Government’s proposed 2026 Regulations for the Local Government Pension Scheme. These would wrest investment control from local pension committees and hand it to large regional pools, and ultimately to central government.
Councillors held accountable for decisions not made by them
Whereas our councillors would still carry the legal responsibility for safeguarding the pensions of some 18,000 Island workers, they would lose the authority to decide how that money is invested, which managers are appointed, and how risks are managed. In other words, they would be held accountable for decisions that they are no longer allowed to make.
That is not good governance. It is not transparency. And it is certainly not in the best interests of pension fund members, who have not even been consulted. It is interference in local government affairs from a highly controlling government.
Expertise replaced by one‑size‑fits‑all system
The Isle of Wight fund is well‑run, carefully scrutinised, and managed by people who understand our local circumstances. The proposed regulations would replace that expertise with a one‑size‑fits‑all system run at a distance.
Worse still, the Secretary of State would gain new powers to direct how funds are invested, raising the very real possibility that pension money could be steered toward party political priorities rather than long‑term returns.
Set up to provide security in retirement
Pension funds exist to provide security in retirement, not to act as a convenient pot of money for whichever government happens to be in office.
Pooling can bring benefits when it is collaborative and locally controlled. But these proposals go far beyond, centralising power, restricting independent advice, and weakening the democratic oversight that Islanders rightly expect.
Our pension fund should remain in local hands
The councillors’ concerns need to be heard loud and clear not just in the Council chamber, but across the Island, and especially in Parliament. Our pension fund belongs to its members, and decisions about it should remain in local hands.
Pension committees across the country have raised these concerns.
I would encourage pension fund members to watch the meeting on YouTube and write to their MP.
