Will members who had ‘tapered protection’ also be asked to choose between Legacy and reformed scheme benefits?
In the case of civil service pension scheme members the Legacy schemes are classic, classic plus, premium and nuvos and the reformed scheme is alpha.
Members who received tapered protection in 2015, or would have received such protection but for the provision that unlawfully excluded younger members from transitional protection, will be offered a choice of whether to receive Legacy or reformed scheme benefits in relation to any continuous service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022.
This will remove the discrimination that arose between older members who were subject to transitional protection and younger members who were not.
How will people who retire before the introduction of the deferred choice underpin (DCU) be treated?
Members who have retired before the DCU is implemented on 1 October 2023 and have a period of relevant service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, will retire on their ‘as is’ benefits. At some point after 1 October 2023 these members will be offered a choice; the choice will be retrospective and backdated to the point that payment of pension benefits began.
Powers to pay compensation
The remedy attempts to put people in the right position directly; but sometimes it cannot. Where this happens, compensation may be payable in specific cases.
Compensation payments may be made to pension scheme members via application as a result of overpaid tax charges and where this cannot be repaid directly by HMRC. Where contributions have also been overpaid, schemes will provide direct compensation to members. These overpayments would have happened unintentionally through the remedy of the discrimination.
What are the exceptions to the final salary link from my legacy scheme?
If you have a break in service of five years or more and rejoin the alpha scheme when you return, you won’t be eligible to retain a final salary link from the legacy scheme all the way through to retirement.
Will Civil Service Pension Scheme members affected by the Remedy receive compensation for 'injury to feelings' and reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenditure as a result of pension reforms in 2015? I am aware of Employment Tribunal (ET) cases awarding settlements.
Only members included in an ET are subject to any awards and findings made by the Court. The Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices (PSPJO) Act 2022 provides the legislative framework to allow for all public service schemes to address the discrimination identified by the Court. Scheme specific Regulations introduced allow the government's remedy to be implemented from 1 October 2023.
The Remedy is designed to put all scheme members who were affected by the discrimination, into the same position by removing the discrimination and allowing members the choice of pension benefits they wish to receive for the Remedy period.
There are provisions for schemes to allow compensation for out of pocket expenses in certain circumstances, if they consider the costs result from the discrimination. Details of this and how to apply will be released in due course.
Should you wish to remain updated on the latest Remedy information, the best place to visit is the Civil Service Pensions website which can be accessed by using the following link:
https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/2015-remedy
