Pensions - Articles - Government denied right of appeal on pensions ruling


Rosalind Connor, Partner at ARC Pensions Law comments following the news that the UK government is facing costs of £4bn a year after being denied leave to appeal against a landmark ruling that pensions reforms discriminated against younger workers,

 “The Court of Appeal ruling on this matter had far-reaching effects for government policy on pensions and so it was expected that the government would appeal. Without leave to appeal, the government is faced with implementing the ruling.

 The government had followed what has been common practice in the private sector when closing defined benefit pension schemes – it is accepted that the effects of pension scheme closure are often hardest on those closest to retirement, who don’t have time to save enough to make up the difference, particularly when leaving a final salary scheme, where the last few years are the most valuable. As a result, many employers have tended to give a “softer” close to those members closest to retirement, where they continue in the more generous scheme for a period longer than the younger members.

 In this case, the court held that there was not sufficient justification for this softer close, so the government must approach a close in a different way, possibly reversing some significant steps taken to reduce the cost of public sector pensions by moving younger staff out of the final salary schemes.

 Ironically, the steps taken in both professions towards diversity have added another argument against the government in this case.

 Because of those steps, there are a greatly increased number of younger members who are women and/or BAME. This added another argument that the differentiating between younger and older members was indirect sex and race discrimination, as the vast majority of those benefiting from the more attractive pensions for older workers were white men."
 
 
 
 
  

Back to Index


Similar News to this Story

PPF marks 20 years of protection in its Annual Report
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published its 2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts, marking its 20th anniversary with a year of strong financial p
DC pensions continue to back Net Zero despite ESG backlash
Barnett Waddingham’s latest DC Sustainability Report finds a 34% increase in allocations to funds with a climate target in the growth stage since orig
Chancellors focus on guided retirement for pensions savers
Ahead of the Mansion House speech to be delivered by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the evening of 15 July, Glyn Bradley, Chair of Pensions Board at t

Site Search

Exact   Any  

Latest Actuarial Jobs

Actuarial Login

Email
Password
 Jobseeker    Client
Reminder Logon

APA Sponsors

Actuarial Jobs & News Feeds

Jobs RSS News RSS

WikiActuary

Be the first to contribute to our definitive actuarial reference forum. Built by actuaries for actuaries.