CONNEXIONS: Sheffield Futures hits out over staff pensions claim

At a meeting last month, representatives from South Yorkshire Pensions Authority told staff at Sheffield Futures that it was not responsible for the proposed 7.3 per cent increase, as previously thought.

Jim Reid, chief executive of Sheffield Futures, said the assumption was down to misunderstanding between staff and management.

He said: "We commissioned a financial consultant and it recommended raising pension contributions this year to meet any increases in April 2005, not the pensions authority. In hindsight, I wish we'd never asked the question, but now we are legally bound to act on it."

Reid said Sheffield Futures had been subsidising Connexions' careers guidance work by 350,000 over the past three years, because the service did not provide "the same level of intensity" as previous provision.