According to the latest list of proposed amendments to be moved at the House of Lords Committee stage of the Pension Schemes Bill, Baroness Bowles has tabled an amendment to clause 100 of the Bill, which concerns the remedial provisions intended to deal with the Virgin Media decision. The amendment seeks to remove subsections (9) and (10), which exclude from the scope of the remedy amendments which are the subject of existing legal proceedings.   The Committee begins its rev

Paul Newman KC looks at the recent High Court approval of a compromise in the long-running saga involving the Places for People Group Retirement Benefit Scheme, which contains a useful explanation of the approach to be taken by the Court in approving the settlement of a complex set of pensions issues.

The long-running saga involving the Places for People Group Retirement Benefit Scheme has finally come to an end with the High Court this afternoon approving a compromise of all the issues relating to the validity and rectification of scheme documents, following a two-day hearing. Although the judgment of Richards J makes no new law, it contains useful summaries of the approach to be taken by the Court in approving a compromise in the pensions context, and of the law on recti

Pensions Barrister is off to do the Christmas shopping and eat mince pies and will be back in the New Year with more content! Many thanks to all of our readers for your support in 2025.

Allison Wu of Wilberforce Chambers looks at Brambles Administration Ltd v Harvey , an appeal from a Pensions Ombudsman determination involving pension liberation which considers the time limits for bringing complaints, the test for dishonesty and contributory negligence. To read the article, click on the pdf below.

Paul Newman KC looks at a very recent DPO determination on the scope of an occupational scheme trustee’s due diligence duties in respect of a non-statutory transfer made under the rules of the scheme. To read the article, click on the pdf below.

New amendments have today been tabled to the Pension Schemes Bill, including changes made by the Secretary of State to the clauses which remedy the problems caused by Virgin Media decision. Most of those changes are relatively minor. The only three of any substance are: Gov 58, which amends the definition of “positive action” that will trigger the exclusion of the scheme from the remedial provisions, so that any step taken by the scheme trustees or managers to alter benefit p

Paul Newman KC considers the recent High Court decision in 3i PLC v Decesare , in which a fetter in a scheme amendment power which prohibited changes diminishing the accrued rights or interests  of members was held not to protect members’ future service rights. To read the article, click on the pdf below.

We are incredibly proud to announce that Paul was awarded the Wallace Medal for this website at the Association of Pensions Lawyers annual conference dinner last night. A huge thank you to all the contributors and readers who have supported the site for the past 3 years.

Paul is looking forward to seeing some of you in Leeds this week. In the meantime, Pensions Barrister will be back with more content next week.