After the response to the consultation was published, we ran three webinars for employers, focussed on each of the Civil Service, Police & Fire and NHS Pension Schemes.
The webinars were engaging and informative and uncovered some concerns that were not immediately obvious.
Although the HMT consultation response covers the majority of the public sector pension schemes, it is clear that each scheme and employer group will have its own challenges and hurdles to overcome. Same storm, different boats.
So, reflecting on these webinars and the 70+ views which were represented, the key things we have taken away are:
Unknowns
There is a lot of concern about the unknown, especially the way in which the deferred choice will be provided and managed. The sooner Regulations nail down this detail, the easier it is to plan and move forward.
Pensions Tax
This is high on the radar, particularly around the Annual Allowance. The Annual Allowance position will need to be reviewed as far back as 2012 for a reasonable proportion of the membership. Previous Pension Growth and Pensions Tax positions will need to be recalculated and steps take to resolve under and overpayments. Many of those who have been in a position where they have had pensions tax charges to pay have had support through guidance or pensions expert. How will this be managed to support anyone impacted by these changes? How will people know if they are impacted by these changes?
Communications to members
The consultation response makes it clear that the HMT view is that members will have had 20 months’ notice of these changes to review and plan. This is based on the date the original consultation document was issued to 1 April 2022. This assumes therefore that all 5.5 million public sector workers have reviewed this consultation and the subsequent response. Those on the sessions were very clear that this will not be the case. There is a desire to support staff and flag these changes to them but a huge concern over how to make messaging clear and manageable. Employers are nervous and uncertain of the right way to do this.
How we can help
We are able to provide supporting webinars for employee groups to set out the McCloud position and a high-level view of the remedy. Within this we will sign–post to further information and explain what is not yet known and timescales. This will includes all the complications about the processing issues and the fact that much of the practical application of the remedy may not be in place until as late as October 2023.
As an example of the support we are able to provide, this includes webinars for employees, videos for your intranet sites and one to one support.
To discuss further please get in touch at laura@pengage.co.uk