BT Pensions Update

An update from Prospect on the BT Pensions Review consultation

High Court ruling on Section C Indexation High Court Case

BT Pension scheme members in Section C will continue to see increases to their pension based on the Retail Price Index (RPI), the High Court has decided.

BT were seeking to change the measure by which pension in payment increases from RPI to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The case was taken to the High Court in December and today it was ruled that BT cannot swap the index used to increase pensions for Section C members of the BT Pension scheme who would have been affected by any changes.

Prospect has consistently campaigned against changing indexation of pension schemes from RPI to CPI. The outcome of the case will be welcomed by Section C members as this action has caused anxiety among active and deferred members and pensioners. The Prospect pension team will be looking at the ruling and we will update member in more detail soon.

However, BT has said that it will be considering next steps after the ruling including the possibility of an appeal. Prospect will be closely monitoring the actions BT and BTPS trustees make to ensure that our members views are heard and taken into account.

BT Pensions Review Consultation

BT’s pensions review consultation concluded on 17 January 2018 and Prospect will be meeting the company next week to discuss their findings. Whilst Prospect Members have voted to accept BT’s proposals there are a number of outstanding issues that we have raised with the company through the consultation:

• AVC’s – we’ve had lots of feedback from members about the impact of closure on those who are currently purchasing AVC’s and have added years contracts and we’ve raised this with BT.

• Ill health retirement- we’ve also had concerns raised about the impact of closure on the small number of members that are currently in the process of applying for ill health retirement and are concerned about the cut-off date of 31 March 2018.

• Transition arrangements- BTPS members have also expressed views that the transition arrangements could be improved further and we’ve also heard from BTRSS members as well as BTPS members that the employer contributions to the BTRSS could be better.

• Members have expressed concern that there isn’t more certainty about the proposed early retirement and flexibility options

We intend to discuss these topics with BT as well as the timetable for implementing the changes and will provide an update to members as soon as possible.