The government has introduced primary legislation to make the necessary changes to remedy the discrimination within public service pension schemes resulting from the transitional protection arrangements that were part of the scheme reforms in 2015. Consultations are now being carried out by government departments to implement the remedy.

The remedy will be implemented in two stages:

Stage 1: The first stage is focused on the technical amendments that are needed to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme regulations to comply with the primary legislation the government consulted on and introduced within the Public Service Pensions Scheme & Judicial Offices (PSPJO) bill. The changes being implemented are:

• the final salary (legacy) scheme will close to further accrual on 31 March 2022
• all active members of the Scheme will build up pension benefits within the existing career average (reform) scheme from 1 April 2022.

Stage 2: Schemes will consult separately on changes required to deliver stage two of the remedy. This will include the Deferred Choice Underpin (DCU) that will allow members to choose benefits accrued in the remedy period to be taken as either final salary(legacy) or career average(reform). This consultation will take place in 2022 and further information will be shared when this is available.

Today the Department for Education has launched Stage 1 of the consultation which can be viewed here (This link opens in a new window). The consultation will run for eight weeks and will close on 24 January 2022. Following this, they’ll consider the feedback and publish their response.

Teachers’ Pension Scheme member and employer representatives will be responding to this consultation. The consultation closes on 24 January 2022 and any responses should be submitted through the consultation website, rather than to Teachers’ Pensions.

More information can be found on our website including updates on the latest news and FAQs.