Danny Alexander: Reforms are best way to make pensions sustainable

Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, defends the reforms on the Today programme:

"This year, the cost of the public service pensions is £32 billion – that is an increase of one-third over the last ten years.

"That is related to the fact that people are living longer, healthier lives and that is a good thing. Therefore it is important to rebalance between member contributions and taxpayer contributions.

"That is the best way to make these pensions sustainable, which is what we all want to do.

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"For someone on £15,000, there will be no increase at all, for someone between £15,000-£21,000 a maximum of 0.6%, for someone with a much higher income at the very top end of the public service, it will be a much more significant increase.

"We will be setting that out in very great detail and there will be a 12-week consultation period. That is the best way to ensure that…the taxpayer contribution is controlled and members are asked to pay a bit more for the excellent quality pensions that they receive."