There should be “more pay less pension” in the public sector, the former head of the civil service has said. Lord O’Donnell, who led the civil service between 2005 and 2011, said the sector needs to shift away from pension-based remuneration and towards higher pay. He was responding to a post on X which argued there was limited evidence that retirement benefits improve staff retention, suggesting the pay offered in the public sector was not a big enough incentive to attract top talent. Lord O’Donnell appeared to suggest that generous “final salary” pensions, which come at large cost to taxpayers, could be cut to fund pay increases. He wrote on the platform, formerly known as Twitter: “I will continue to argue that we desperately need a switch towards more pay less pension in the public sector. You can’t get a mortgage based on your future pension.” I will continue to argue that we desperately need a switch towards more pay less pension in the public sector. You can't get a mortgage based on your future pension. https://t.co/hUsHo6QhOi — Gus O'Donnell (@Gus_ODonnell) April 23, 2024 It recently emerged that the cost of public sector pensions had soared past £2.6 trillion for...