Civil Service Pension Scheme: 2015 Remedy and civil service member contributions

There are two main areas of focus: the 2015 Remedy (also known as McCloud) and member contributions.

In 2015 all public sector pension schemes were reformed, with new career average schemes introduced. These reforms also saw the introduction of transitional protection which meant those members within 10 years of the normal pension age could remain in the legacy schemes for a period of time. The Court of Appeal in 2018 identified transitional protection as discriminatory based on age. This called for the 2015 Remedy to remove this discrimination and resulted in the publication of the HM Treasury-led Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill earlier this year. To ensure the legislation dictated in the Bill is followed, scheme-level legislation is required to move all remaining active members of the legacy schemes into the reformed scheme (alpha) from 1 April 2022. This will mean the discrimination is removed as all members will be in the same position. There will be additional scheme-level legislation next year which deals with the remainder of the 2015 Remedy work.

The Civil Service (and Others) Pension Scheme (CSOPS) - also known as Alpha - is set out in the Public Service (Civil Servants and Others) Pension Regulations 2014. The Scheme makes provisions for contributions payable by scheme members up to 31 March 2022. It is silent on member contribution rates from 1 April 2022, and provisions need to be made for this. The proposed legislation has the effect of extending the current contribution rates for a one year period from 1 April 2022 to 31st March 2023.