Armed Forces Pensions - McCloud Update December 2019
This bulletin adds context for armed forces personnel on the pre-2015 pension scheme as a result of the McCloud judgment.
19/12/2019
Service Personnel (SP) may have read recent newspaper articles stating that all eligible* public service pension scheme members will be placed back into their pre-2015 pension scheme as a result of the McCloud judgment. This bulletin adds context for Armed Forces personnel.
The decision on remedy is yet to be decided by the employment tribunal. The government is engaged with the litigants, the employment tribunal, and representatives of all public service pension schemes to agree how the discrimination will be addressed.
MOD remuneration staff are working with HMT and other government departments to ensure that the unique nature of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme is taken into consideration in any remedy solution. Specifically, it is recognised that it is not as simple as putting everyone back into their old pension scheme. This is because some SP will be better off in the old scheme, and some better off in the new scheme. MOD will ensure all eligible SP can keep their accrued benefits.
The Employment Tribunal will agree the timings of any remedy and MOD will provide further updates as information becomes available. If you are part of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme, you can find the latest updates via the
Civil Service Pensions website – McCloud judgment.
* Eligible SP are those who were in Service on 31 Mar 12
and 1 Apr 15 plus those SP who left Service before 31 Mar 12 but subsequently re-entered the pension scheme within the allotted time.