GMB, the union for public sector workers, has slammed the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) claim that the future cost of public service pensions could amount to more than £9bn a year as “total rubbish” and described the conclusions reached in the report as “bonkers”.

The union’s national secretary for public services Brian Strutton outlined three specific points in the report which are inaccurate.

Addressing the argument from the CPS that there is an extra £3.4bn cost to public sector pensions schemes due to ending contracting out, Strutton argued: “This is not a cost to pension schemes - it is a national insurance increase on public sector employers and employees with the proceedings going to Treasury. It has no effect on public sector pension scheme costs.”

On the issue that there will be about £4bn a year in additional costs as a result of public sector pension scheme members still receiving a full contracted out pension, Strutton stated: “It is true that public sector pension scheme members will get their full contracted out pensions. This is not a change. They will get the same scheme pension they would have got. There is no additional scheme pension and no additional scheme cost.”

Finally, he stated that the CPS “now recognises that the longevity estimates they prefer, using ONS data, were the ones actually being used for public sector pensions costings so there is no further theoretical new cost arising. There is no extra £2bn public sector pension scheme cost”.

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