Committee publication · Correspondence · 29 April 2026

Letter from Unison on Continuing provision of TPS and LGPS pensions in the higher education sector dated 21.04.26

Summary

UNISON writes to the Education Committee opposing a joint letter from Universities UK and UCEA calling for flexibility to exit TPS and LGPS pension schemes in higher education. While acknowledging sector financial pressures, UNISON argues that staff pensions should not be sacrificed to resolve institutional crises rooted in failed funding models, inadequate public investment, and overreliance on international student fees.

Key findings

UUK and UCEA requested committee endorsement for higher education institutions to leave or offer alternatives to Teachers' Pension Scheme and Local Government Pension Scheme
UNISON rejects treating staff pensions as a discretionary cost to be shed during financial stress, characterizing this as a breach of previous government assurances
UNISON identifies the root cause of sector instability as a failed funding model—inadequate public investment, real-terms income erosion, and overreliance on international student fees—not pension obligations alone
UNISON calls for DfE compensation to universities for exceptional TPS cost increases, similar to support given to schools and colleges
UNISON advocates for structural reform including renewed public investment, stronger insolvency protections, and workforce stability frameworks rather than pension scheme exit

Tone

Adversarial

Topics

higher-education-fundingpensionsemployment-rightspublic-financeinstitutional-insolvency

Key actors

UNISON, Universities UK, Universities and Colleges Employers Association, Helen Hayes MP, Ben Thomas, Department for Education

Notable line

“… staff should not be made to bear the consequences of political and institutional failures in higher education finance.”

Key Quotes

“It would be wholly wrong for the Committee to endorse a course of action that would weaken pension prote ctions for university staff at the very moment when they are already facing redundancies, restructuring, falling real pay, and worsening insecurity.”
— UNISON · opposing UUK and UCEA's pension flexibility proposals

“Access to decent, secure pension provision is a fundamental part of employment in higher education, not an optional extra to be traded away when institutions are under stress.”
— UNISON · asserting pension protections as a core employment right

“… h e Committee should not accept the proposition that the route to sustainability lies in reducing staff entitlements.”
— UNISON · rejecting the framing that staff sacrifices are necessary for sector sustainability

“To present TPS and LGPS participation as the central problem is to misdiagnose the crisis and risk worsening it.”
— UNISON · critiquing the employers' diagnosis of higher education financial problems

“The answer to sector instability is not to erode one of the few remaining pillars of secur ity for staff, but to address the underlying failures in funding, governance and regulation.”
— UNISON · proposing structural reform as the solution to institutional distress

View original document →

Source · parliament.uk record ↗