A meeting of the TUC's public service unions agreed this week (Monday) to extend the TUC's negotiations with the government on public service pensions. Further talks will take place centrally, said the TUC.

Individual unions will consider participating in scheme-level talks to fully explore the issues and to enable unions and their members to judge whether agreement is possible or whether more unions will enter into dispute and plan industrial action.

The TUC has made clear to the government, in agreeing to continue negotiations, that unions have not agreed to or accepted any of the government's objectives or the change in indexation from RPI to CPI.

Prospect issued a circular to branch and section secretaries, endorsing the TUC statement. It explains that discussions so far have made some progress on issues relating to transparency, equality impacts, participation rates and opt-out and scheme governance.

However, deputy general secretary Dai Hudd said: "It has become increasingly clear that, given the scope of those discussions covering a multitude of pension schemes in very different sectors with different dynamics, at some point those negotiations would need to continue at a scheme specific level."

The government had proposed that these negotiations begin with a view to reaching an agreement, and had again set out their objectives on pension reform. They are contained in a letter from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander to TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber.

Hudd, who is secretary to Prospect's civil service sector, said: "We have made clear, as has the TUC, that significant differences remain on a number of key issues and we have not agreed or accepted the government's objectives.

"The government has set a very challenging timetable for these negotiations which they state will have to encompass their objective of short-term savings through contribution increases, as well as long-term pension reform.

"They have a signalled a willingness to be flexible around their objectives, although we have doubts that this flexibility will be sufficient to get us to an acceptable position. Only time will tell whether this is demonstrated in the negotiations."

Prospect is making every effort to reach an acceptable negotiated outcome, while being clear that if this proves impossible, "then industrial action may well be an inevitable consequence," Hudd said.

Any developments in scheme-by-scheme talks will be considered at central level by the TUC, and the unions have agreed to liaise on any developments that will impact on negotiations.