Liverpool, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – An interim report released Thursday found out that the cost of public sector pensions in Britain went up by 32 percent over the past 10 years. As a result of the rise, total taxpayer liability of the system is now almost $1.5 trillion (1 trillion pounds).

Lord Hutton, the former Labor Pensions Secretary, blamed the public finance crisis Britain is facing on the unaffordable pensions the system provides to millions of public workers. To address the situation, Hutton will initiate next year a consultation process that will propose a revamp of the pension system.

One measure that Hutton will push is to hike immediately the contributions made by civil servants for their pensions. Another is to delay their retirement by at least five years.

Longer lifespans combined with current laws that allow retirement at 60 means many retired public workers enjoy 30 years or more of pensions to which they contributed only a fraction of the cost.

However, the report admitted that not all public service pensions are gold-plated. The average pension is only $11,700 (7,800 pounds) a year and about 50 percent get less than $8,400 (5,600 pounds) annually.

Hutton pushed for the reforms before delegates of the National Association of Pension Funds yearly conference in Liverpool. Business leaders lauded the reforms, but trade unions protested it.

Paul Noon, general secretary of Prospect, said imposing higher contributions would cause greater financial burden on public servants whose salaries had been frozen for two years. Because of a recruitment freeze, job cuts and attacks on employment terms and conditions, public workers are not in a mood to accept more attacks on their pension plans, Noon said.

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