No clarity for Virgin Media reversal date on Pensions Bill reading

The Pension Schemes Bill was given its second reading in the House of Commons last night. During his speech the Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell MP, had this to say about the introduction of the provisions enabling retrospective actuarial confirmation to be given to relevant amendments to contracted-out salary-related schemes, so as to reverse the effect of the Virgin Media decision:

I have been clear that the Government will also look to introduce legislation to give affected pension schemes the ability to retrospectively obtain written actuarial confirmation that historical benefit changes met the necessary standards at the time.

It remains to be seen whether that power will be incorporated in the Bill during its passage through Parliament, or whether further legislation will be required in due course.

The entire debate on the second reading of the Bill can be viewed here.