Court considers fiduciary duties of LGPS administrators

On 4 January, judgment was handed down inThe Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Croydon v Oasis Community Learning. The claim was brought by an administering authority of an LGPS fund against a scheme employer for the recovery of unpaid contributions. The defendant applied to amend its defence to plead breach by the claimant of its duties to the defendant in the calculation of the sums allegedly due, and an issue relevant to that application was whether the claimed breaches were of fiduciary duties owed to scheme employers. The Deputy Master discussed this issue, concluding that it was reasonably arguable that the employer is to be treated as a beneficiary of a quasi-trust and that the amendment concerned breach of fiduciary, rather than purely public law, duties. This issue will be considered in a future In Focus article.