This should save employers who receive staff transfers significant time and cost in setting up broadly comparable pension arrangements.
Currently, employees can remain in the Local Government Pension scheme by the new employer becoming an admitted body. Not-for-profit employers can obtain direction status in the NHS Pension Scheme as an alternative to providing a broadly comparable scheme. Similarly, teaching staff may be able to remain in the Teachers Pension Scheme. However, these arrangements are not always possible to secure and staff in the Civil Service Pensions Schemes currently cannot remain in this scheme after transfer. New employers may therefore need to offer broadly comparable final salary pension schemes which can be costly to set up.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, has confirmed that legislation will be put before Parliament which will set out arrangements to “replace the current broad comparability and bulk transfer approach under fair deal”. He confirmed the government’s intention to maintain the overall approach under Fair Deal which is to ensure that staff pension rights are maintained on transfer out of the public sector.
Many organisations contracting with the public sector have hoped for a move away from the obligation to maintain existing pension rights for staff transferring out from the public sector and it appears clear this is not going to happen. However, the positive news is that the new legislation will mean organisations no longer have to negotiate and implement bulk transfer arrangements or to have to incur the expense of setting up a broadly comparable scheme.
The Government’s announcement does not clarify what organisations re-tendering for existing contracts where the staff have already transferred out into a broadly comparable scheme will be required to put in place.
We will provide a further update once the draft legislation has been published.
Please contact Matthew Wort on 0121 214 3501, matthew.wort@anthonycollins.com or Douglas Mullen on 0121 212 7432, douglas.mullen@anthonycollins.com.
The High Court has ruled that retrospective changes to the LGPS exit credits regime were lawful – and gave some helpful guidance around the new discretion to pay an exit credit.
The Government has brought forward draft laws to allow independent schools to close the Teacher’s Pension Scheme to new joiners but to allow existing members to continue.
The Government has started consultation on the regulations providing the detailed framework for collective money purchase pension schemes.
In June we took on the challenge to become a Sepsis Savvy organisation - I'm really pleased to announce we've done it!
In 2020 the court rules were changed to require that all residential tenants must be given 14 days’ notice of an eviction. What happens though if the eviction is cancelled on the day?
We are delighted to announce that our private wealth law department has continued to maintain its Band 2 position in the latest edition of Chambers and Partners High Net Worth.
The new CHF is set to launch and open for applications with £4 million set to be allocated to community-led housing groups to support an increase the supply of affordable housing in England.
Charities, like other organisations, may be subject to or choose to voluntarily comply with the reporting requirements under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
The draft regulations making it mandatory for anyone entering a registered care home in England to have been double vaccinated unless they are clinically exempt were made on 22 July 2021.
Doug Mullen and Michelle Knight discuss the recent judicial review of regulations changing the regime governing exit credits in the local government pension scheme.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.