Government tables amendments on ‘Virgin Media’ – LCP reacts

The Government has today tabled a series of amendments to the Pension Schemes Bill, which seek to address what has become known as the ‘Virgin Media’ issue. This relates to the requirement to have an actuary’s confirmation when certain pension scheme rules were changed, and the issues that can arise when no such confirmation was produced at the time.

The amendments are designed to allow pension schemes to resolve this issue retrospectively.

Commenting, David Everett, Partner and Head of Pensions Research at LCP, said:

“This is a well-thought-through intervention which should enable a comprehensive resolution to be achieved, as well as enabling further legislation to be produced should the need arise. The clauses providing for the new actuarial confirmation reflect the need for a pragmatic approach and, as such, are most welcome.  However, the new test will not be a silver bullet in all cases and actuaries called upon by trustees to give the new confirmation will need to tread carefully.

“Trustees can take comfort that the Government has not set any time limit within which alterations within scope need to be considered under this legislation.  How and when trustees choose to address any Virgin Media issues can be driven by other considerations, but until they use this legislation, any Virgin Media benefit uncertainty will continue to exist within their scheme.”