HM Treasury announced the Public Service Pension Scheme Consultation Response (This link opens in a new window) in February 2021, which committed to bringing forward primary legislation to remove the discrimination identified by the courts in the McCloud and Sargeant cases.

The government has now done this by introducing the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill (the Bill) on 19 July 2021.

The main elements are:

• Eligible members will have a choice of the benefits they wish to take for the remedy period of 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022
• From 1 April 2022, after the remedy period ends, all members in service will be members of the career average (reformed) scheme, ensuring equal treatment from that point on
• It ensures there are no reductions to member benefits as a result of the 2016 cost control valuations. Further details on the valuation can be found on our website here.

All the main public service pension schemes will work to implement these changes and will provide greater certainty to members of their benefit entitlements, ensuring they receive guaranteed pension benefits.

To help you understand the changes, you can find the Bill and accompanying documents (including explanatory notes) here (This link opens in a new window) and further details can also be found on our website, which we’ll continue to update.