Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill — New Clause 8 — Compensation of Losses Incurred by Closure of Legacy Schemes — 22 Feb 2022 at 16:21

The majority of MPs voted against requiring the Chancellor to write a report on how those losing out as a result of transferring from old to new public sector pensions schemes could be compensated.

MPs were considering the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill.^[1][2][3]

The proposed new clause rejected in this Bill was titled: Compensation of losses incurred by closure of legacy schemes and stated:

• (1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must review how a loss incurred by a member with remediable service who is transferred to the new scheme under section 80 and—
• (a) reaches the required number of years of pensionable service to retire with full benefits under the legacy scheme, and
• (b) is unable to access the full value of those benefits because they must continue to work to retire with full benefits under the new scheme could be compensated.
• (2) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must prepare and publish a report on this review within two months of the passage of this Act and must lay a copy of the report before Parliament.’

The rejected new clause was accompanied by the following statement from its proposer:

• This new clause would require the Government to review how losses arising from the “pension trap” could be compensated, and to report on the review within two months of the passage of the Act.

Clause 80 of the Bill, which would be expected to become Section 80 if the Bill became an Act, was titled: Restriction of existing schemes and it provided for the closure of existing public sector pensions schemes to further payments into them.

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill, Parliament.uk
• [2] Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill, as amended in Committee, 27 January 2022, Parliament.uk
• [3] Explanatory notes to the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill, 7 December 2021, Parliament.uk
• [4] Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill, as introduced to the House of Lords, 7 December 2021, Parliament.uk

Debate in Parliament |