Local government pension schemes in Scotland are £5.9bn in the red, according to new figures from the nation's financial watchdog.

~Audit Scotland~ has published a report on public sector pension schemes which will provide retirement benefits to about 950,000 people. Local government pension schemes in Scotland are managed by 11 administering authorities, with assets valued at £11.4bn. The total unfunded liabilities across all of the schemes is estimated at £53bn. Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black, said: ‘The expectation that people will live longer is increasing the value of pension liabilities. The contributions from both employees and employers will almost certainly increase, and there are likely to be demands on future public spending to meet these costs.'