Government Consults On Pension Rights For Transfers From The Public To Private Sector

Following a recommendation of the Hutton report on public sector pensions, the government has launched a consultation on Fair Deal. Fair Deal is a non-statutory policy which applies to staff who are compulsorily transferred under TUPE from a public sector to private sector employer (for example where an in-house service is outsourced). Fair Deal requires the new private sector employer to provide a broadly comparable pension scheme for the transferred staff. Although not strictly within the remit of the review, Hutton's interim report, published on 7 October 2010, found that as pension liabilities are generally higher in the public sector, Fair Deal "creates a barrier to the plurality of public service provision". Broadly, the consultation proposes a range of options for future policy:

retaining Fair Deal in its current form; retaining a reformed version of Fair Deal; ending Fair Deal altogether. The consultation closes on 15 June 2011. Further details can be found at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/consult_fair_deal_pensions.pdf The Hutton Review The Fair Deal consultation needs to be considered in the light of Hutton's final report, published yesterday. Hutton urges an overhaul of the public sector pension system, in particular recommending that going forward, public sector pensions should...