Council staff face later retirement to fill £40bn pension fund black hole; Carry on working past 65 as Default Retirement Age to be scrapped in 2011; State pension is not enough to live on, minister admits

UK - The government is proposing to scrap the default retirement age of 65 by October next year.

The government is proposing to scrap the default retirement age of 65 by October next year, it today confirmed.

Unlike former PP editor-in-chief Alex Beveridge, who admitted in his column last week that reading time has become a somewhat rare commodity since the birth of his baby son, I still have some time for light-hearted reading.

Not a week seems to go by without the unions disputing the latest cost saving measures by sponsoring employers. The BBC, AstraZeneca and Ford have all been on the receiving end of union venom in the past two weeks alone.

A legal battle over part-time judges' right to a pension from the Ministry of Justice has been referred to Europe for a final ruling.

UK/EUROPE - A legal battle over part-time judges' right to a pension from the Ministry of Justice has been referred to Europe for a final ruling.

JLT Benefit Solutions has appointed former Paternoster chief executive Mark Wood as non-executive chairman.

The Association of Consulting Actuaries is undertaking a survey seeking employers' views on the government's upcoming review of auto-enrolment and NEST.

Chemicals company Croda International is changing the accrual rate of its pension scheme for new members, despite a slight improvement in its scheme deficit.