Taxpayer hit with £5.4bn pension bill

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The cost of the local government pension scheme raised fears that town halls may be forced to raise council tax or sack teachers, social workers and other frontline staff to balance their books.

Councils paid in an extra eight per cent to the scheme in 2008/09 compared with £5billion in 2007/08. The cost of the pension scheme to the taxpayer has jumped by £1.9billion since 2004/05 - or 52 per cent.

Steve Webb, Lib-Dem work and pensions spokesman, said the Government must ensure that the costs "do not force councils to cut teachers or social workers and damage frontline services".

Ministers are proposing top earners in local government pay contributions of 10 per cent of their salary. The Tories are planning a cap of £50,000 a year on public-sector pensions.

A Communities Department spokesman said: "The Government is looking at ways of ensuring higher earners at councils make a more significant contribution towards their pension."