Fresh call for fairer pension protection payments

TWO former pensions ministers have urged the Westminster Government to press ahead with plans to give fairer pension compensation to the staff of failed firms.

Ros Altmann, who left the Government last week, said there is “no justification for delays to regulations for loyal, long-serving pensioners”.

She said that for each week the changes are not in place, some pensioners are losing hundreds of pounds.

Steve Webb, who held the role of pensions minister immediately before Baroness Altmann, also said the Government should now “get on with implementing this change”.

Lady Altmann had been working to get measures ready before the summer recess which would help some pensioners get fairer payments from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), by increasing a cap on the payments people are allowed to receive. She said the regulations should be announced before Parliament rises for the summer.

The PPF acts as a lifeboat for pension savers by paying compensation to members of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes – such as final salary pensions – when firms have failed. Lady Altmann said the cap as it stands can result in long-serving staff losing most of their promised pension.

Mr Webb had laid the foundations for the changes, with legislation.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “The PPF long service cap will give additional support to someone whose compensation has been capped and was a member of a pension scheme for over 20 years. We’ve committed to bringing this change in and will be legislating as soon as possible.”