McCloud update and consultation
Consultation on amendments to the statutory underpin and data collection exercise to start
On 16 July 2020, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) released a consultation on proposed changes to the LGPS in England and Wales, to remove the unlawful age discrimination identified in the McCloud judgement. You can find the previous updates we've provided about the McCloud case on our employers news page.
In short, the courts found transitional protections given to older members in the judicial and firefighters’ pension schemes directly discriminated against younger members in those schemes. As a result, the government has confirmed that the McCloud judgement applies to all public service pension schemes. The consultation asks for feedback on these proposals, for LGPS England and Wales, to extend the statutory underpin protection to younger members of the scheme.
The 12-week consultation can be found on the government website, and closes on 8 October 2020. The link to the consultation is under Related Links.
Important - data collection exercise to start soon
If you haven’t provided us with the full working hours and details of service breaks for all members since 1 April 2014 we will now need to collect historical data to implement the McCloud remedy for members in scope of the protection. We need a full history for in scope members of all part-time hour changes and service breaks since 1 April 2014. We will collect this from you using a template we will supply.
Please don't destroy any relevant data. If you've changed your payroll provider since 1 April 2014, you must make sure you still have access to this information.
The Scheme Advisory Board for the Local Government Pension Scheme has provided fund's with FAQs to help employers. A link to the full FAQs can be found under Related Links. We strongly advise that you read and share these with colleagues at your organisation with LGPS responsibilities, especially these two:
'Do I have to provide the data?'
The data is needed to comply with legislative changes that will be made to the LGPS to remove unlawful age discrimination. We understand that some employers have continued to supply this information since the scheme changed in 2014 and we're checking our records to let you know what we need. You're legally required to provide us with the information we need to calculate members’ benefits.
'What happens if I cannot supply the data?'
You're legally required to provide us with the data needed to calculate pension benefits. If you're experiencing difficulties with this, please contact us as soon as possible. You should be aware that failure to provide the data may increase your liabilities in the scheme and therefore could lead to an increase in your employer contribution rate at the next valuation.