Government to legislate on pensions

Civil service pension deal to be put into law, Alexander confirms

The government today confirmed that it will place a bill before parliament to enact the agreements on public service pensions reached with unions, including Prospect, in April.



Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said in a written ministerial statement that legislation would be introduced in the current session for the civil service, teachers and NHS pension schemes.

He also confirmed that the government will extend the scope of the existing Fair Deal policy for staff transferring out of the civil service so that they can retain membership of the civil service pension scheme under TUPE and subsequent TUPE transfers.

Dai Hudd, Prospect deputy general secretary, welcomed the news (download link is for logged-in members only) but said: “A considerable amount of work still needs to be done to ensure that the changes agreed are properly reflected in the legislation.

“However, with this issue resolved we can now focus on our developing pay campaign for 2012 and beyond.”