Government's Fair Deal Consultation

The Government has announced a consultation about the Fair Deal policy requiring provision of broadly comparable pensions where staff are compulsorily transferred from the public sector to a new non-public sector employer.

The Fair Deal policy applies where a public service is outsourced to be delivered by an independent provider, including private sector businesses and non-profit making organisations such as charitable bodies and social enterprises. It requires that the new employer provides a broadly comparable pension scheme for the transferred staff and bulk transfer arrangements for those staff who wish to transfer their public service pension benefits.

The consultation document sets out details of the Fair Deal policy, objectives and a range of options for future policy and subsequent transfers. This consultation is aimed at:

• public service unions,
• independent providers of public services (including private sector businesses and non-profit making organisations such as charitable bodies and social enterprises),
• representatives of public service pension scheme members,
• representative bodies for independent providers, academics, commentators on pensions and social policy,
• those individuals who consider that they may be affected by a review of the Fair Deal policy and
• other interested parties.