Doug is a partner in the pensions and employment team leading our pensions advice and providing strategic employment advice to a range of not-for-profit, charitable and commercial organisations. He aims to understand what clients need and provide practical, commercial solutions to legal issues which are tailored to their needs and presented in a clear, straightforward way.
Doug has been appointed to the Association of Pension Lawyers’ public sector committee, leads our relationship with the National Local Government Pension Scheme Frameworks and manages Anthony Collins’ appointment to the approved panel of legal services providers for funds and employers for this framework. He is experienced in advising LGPS funds and employers on a range of issues including admissions and exits, staff transfers, internal dispute resolution procedure complaints and pensions ombudsman applications. Doug also advises on appeals against penalties imposed by the Pensions Regulator.
With substantial experience in a wide range of different areas including expertise in advising on the employment and pensions implications of outsourcing arrangements, Doug regularly supports housing and social care providers and local government organisations on public sector pension schemes, changing terms and conditions, TUPE and redundancy.
“He has sound knowledge of the area and is good on both defined contribution and defined benefit schemes.” Chambers and Partners, 2021
My specialisms
- Pensions
- TUPE
- Change programmes – redundancy and terms and conditions
- Local Government Pension Scheme - Appeals against Pension Regulator penalties
My latest insights
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New employee contribution bands for LGPS
The annual change to the contributions bands for employees in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) has been announced. Employers...
National Insurance cuts and pension salary sacrifice
The reduction in employee National Insurance contributions announced in the March 2024 budget makes pension salary sacrifice schemes less...
Outsourcing the problem: equal pay and local authority trading companies
Twenty-five years after an agreement between local authorities and trade unions to tackle equal pay, and fifteen years after the deadline...
Taxing times: changing pension benefits
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that cash payments to employees agreeing to give up future pension rights are subject to tax and...
Teachers' Pension Scheme contributions on the rise
The Department for Education has confirmed that the employer contribution rate for the Teachers' Pension Scheme will rise by 5% to...
Fire and re-hire - a ban on the horizon?
Termination and re-engagement on new terms, or ‘fire and re-hire’, has been around for a long time but really only entered the public...
Social Housing Pension Scheme valuation kicks off
The latest three yearly valuation of the Social Housing Pension Scheme will be getting under way shortly with a valuation date of 30...
Local Government Pension Scheme 2022 valuation outcome – decoding the numbers
With the three-yearly funding valuation of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) now complete, the headline is that many of the 86...
Rushing redundancies and pension costs
A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case has highlighted the perils of rushing through a redundancy process in order to avoid the...
Pensions tax: All change!
As the dust settles on the budget, two things are clear: there were some significant changes to pensions tax arrangements - and there...
Government backs auto-enrolment extension
The Government has confirmed that it will support changes to the law to broaden the scope of auto-enrolment. Workers will be enrolled at...
LGPS investments and ESG issues
The idea that local government pension scheme (LGPS) funds could or should invest in local (rather than overseas) assets or...
Local government pension scheme - are employers calling it quits?
Most employers will now have received their results from the local government pension scheme's three-yearly valuation. For many, a...
Anthony Collins Solicitors appointed to advise LGPS funds and employers
We're delighted that Anthony Collins Solicitors has been appointed to the National Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Legal Services...
Local Government Pension Scheme: employers must proactively consider ill-health retirement
A decision of the Pensions Ombudsman confirmed that an employer should have proactively considered an employee for ill health retirement...
Local government pension scheme valuation - a mixed picture?
The results are starting to come through for the employers in the local government pension scheme (LGPS) and the picture is likely to be...
Autumn statement: All quiet on the pensions front?
On the face of it, the autumn statement had little to say about pensions other than the announcement that the state pension would rise by...
Holiday pay case - the pensions implications
The recent Supreme Court decision in Brazel v Harpur Trust confirmed that people who are employed to only work part of a year, such as...
Further (Mc)Clouds on the horizon in public sector pensions
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the British Medical Association (BMA) have been given permission to go ahead with their legal challenge...
Teachers’ Pension scheme over-payment: A comedy of errors with a human cost
The Pension Ombudsman has recently upheld a complaint by Mrs R against a city council where the council’s incorrect salary data resulted...
Pension age changes pose questions for employers on workforce planning
The Government is increasing the earliest age at which people can normally draw their pension and is also consulting on increasing the...
My latest articles
LGPS surpluses – Could they help to plug a hole in local authority finances?
With local authority finances under significant pressure...
Outsourcing the problem: equal pay and local authority trading companies
The most high-profile story has been Birmingham City...
Local Government Pension Scheme 2022 valuation outcome – decoding the numbers
With the three-yearly funding valuation of the Local...