Retirement benefit scheme meaning

POWER CLAUSE / RULE HELD BY REQUIRES AGREEMENT OR CONSULTATION WITH SUBJECT TO Authority to amend; to wind the scheme up or delay winding-up; to cease future benefit accrual; to shut to new joiners; to readmit employees to membership of the scheme Discretion to set the employer contribution rate; to lower or suspend contributions; to apportion statutory debts Ability to enhance or vary benefits; to permit early retirement pensions and set actuarial reductions; to allow incapacity pensions, decide whether a member meets the incapacity definition, and reduce or pause such pensions; to grant pensions for serious ill-health; to apply actuarial uplifts for late retirement; to fix the rate at which pension is exchanged for a lump sum; to commute trivial pensions; to provide a bridging pension; to award discretionary increases to pensions; to make unauthorised payments Capacity to admit new employers or end their participation; to replace the principal employer; to transfer members’ benefits into or out of the scheme Authority to return...

Aon plc, the British‑American management consultancy, said it would ‘naturally’ give company directors more sway over a scheme if trustees of defined benefit plans were obliged to obtain the sponsor’s agreement to a new ‘statement of strategy’, as outlined by TPR earlier in March 2024. TPR also stated that managers of defined benefit retirement schemes must lodge the strategy alongside their routine valuation documents from 22 September 2024. A defined benefit pension delivers a guaranteed income each year for life, determined by a worker’s final or average salary...

Original news Mrs H (CAS-65551-M8D0)—22 August 2024 Summary The Pensions Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint regarding a discretionary pension established by statute. The scheme’s provisions were outdated and offered no benefit to deferred members. To be entitled to a pension, an individual had to leave the Salvation Army’s service and make a claim—something the complainant had not done. The preservation legislation did not apply because no employer-provided resources existed (Salvation Army workers are viewed not as employees but as officers of religion). The Ombudsman’s decision serves as a reminder that the rules of a pension scheme determine a person’s eligibility for benefits. What were the facts? Mrs H was a commissioned officer for the Salvation Army (SA)...

What is the background to the Pension Schemes Bill? The Pension Schemes Bill reached the House of Commons on 5 June 2025, which was hardly unexpected. It had featured in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament for the new Labour Government in July 2024, and has been referenced on numerous occasions since. As is common with pensions legislation, it was designed to encompass a variety of issues, several of which had been under consideration by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for some years. Accordingly, its eventual arrival was widely anticipated. What are the key measures/provisions in the Bill? The Bill is arranged in five parts. The first part concentrates on defined benefit (DB) schemes and addresses two quite distinct matters: Asset pooling for the Local Government Pension Scheme. Allowing trustees to agree to the return of surplus in a DB scheme to the employer, which, among other things, removes the restrictions under section 251 of the Pensions Act...

What is the Pensions Advice Allowance? Following consultation in 2016/17, the government brought in, from 6 April 2017, the Pensions Advice Allowance. It enables eligible pension scheme members to withdraw a fixed sum from their pension pot tax-free to cover holistic retirement advice. At the member’s instruction, the scheme may therefore reduce the value of the member’s pot by the advice fee and pay the funds straight to the member’s adviser. This measure stemmed from the Financial Advice Market Review, which highlighted an advice gap affecting people who require retirement planning support but cannot meet the cost from net-of-tax income or savings. It is available in addition to other existing advice allowances and payment routes for advice. These include adviser charging, which does not permit pension monies to be used to fund holistic retirement advice. For further details, see Other types of pensions advice measures below. The government’s aim is to help those preparing for retirement to use the Pensions Advice Allowance to fund holistic...

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO MONEY PURCHASE ARRANGEMENTS FROM 6 APRIL 2015 From 6 April 2015, new pension flexibilities expanded the retirement choices for DC members and others with ‘flexible benefits’ (in essence, money purchase and/or cash balance entitlements). As part of those reforms, drawdown became more broadly accessible. For background on the changes implemented on 6 April 2015, see Practice Note: Pension freedoms—an introduction [Archived]. This Practice Note concentrates on the legal framework for drawdown arrangements set up on and after 6 April 2015. It also addresses how pre-April 2015 drawdown is treated from that date. For the rules governing drawdown before 6 April 2015, see Practice Note: Drawdown between 6 April 2011 and 5 April 2015 [Archived]. What is drawdown? The label ‘drawdown pension’ (often called ‘flexible income’) replaced ‘unsecured pension’ and ‘alternatively secured pension’ used up to 5 April 2011. Drawdown pension describes the method of paying benefits that allows members to set their own yearly income from a pension arrangement...

ESPS (ESPS) is a trust-based arrangement created by an Electricity Council resolution on 20 January 1983 as an industry-wide pension for employees of the nationalised electricity sector. It remained a single scheme at privatisation on 31 March 1990, after which it was divided into separate sections or ‘Groups’. The rules are not publicly accessible. For further information on statutory protections for ESPS members following privatisation, see Practice Note: —Protected Persons. Each principal electricity company participating in the ESPS forms its own Group; there are currently 23 Groups. Some Groups have a single participating employer, while others have several. Each Group is actuarially independent, with its assets and liabilities assessed on a standalone basis... Although a common scheme-wide benefit structure applied at the point of privatisation, since then each Group has been able to offer different benefits to its members. The ESPS rules comprise a central set of clauses and provisions governing matters that apply across the scheme, with Group-specific rules appended as Schedules. This Practice Note outlines the...

This precedent has been produced on the basis that the drafter is acting for the buyer. The following warranties have been prepared for a transaction where: The Buyer will provide pension benefits through its own arrangement or via an appointed provider; and Employees’ past service benefits will not be transferred to the Buyer’s arrangement. You are strongly advised to involve a pensions specialist at the earliest opportunity. 1 Definitions For the purposes of paragraphs 2 to 7 inclusive: Employee means [ [specify as necessary, either by category or by named individuals ]; Pension Scheme [ s ] mean [ s ] [ [ name(s) of scheme(s) ] OR an arrangement or practice for the payment of, or contribution towards, an annuity, pension, lump sum, gratuity or similar benefit to be given on retirement, long-term ill-health or death, or pursuant to a pension sharing order, in relation to the service or historic service of an Employee or any other person, or...

This DEED is entered into on [ insert date on which this deed is executed by all parties ] Parties [ Insert name of Company ] whose registered office is at [ insert address of registered office ] and whose registered number is [ insert registered number of Company ] (the Company); and [ Insert name of Trustee ] whose registered address is at [ insert address ] [ and whose registered company number is [ insert registered company number of Trustee ] ] (the Original Trustee). Background The Company intends to establish a trust to be known as the [ insert name of EBT ] with the objective of encouraging, motivating and retaining Employees within the Group Companies by providing benefits to such Employees and their dependants. The Company has transferred to the Original Trustee the sum of £[ insert initial settlement amount ] as the initial Trust Fund. It is anticipated that the Trustees will...

This precedent is prepared on the footing that the drafter acts for the Seller. It is prepared on the basis that the target company (the Company) is a subsidiary of the Seller. It is strongly recommended that a pensions specialist is engaged at the earliest opportunity. 1 Definitions For the purposes of paragraphs 2 to 12 (inclusive), the following definitions set out below shall apply: Employee means any current or former employee, officer, or director of the Company [ or of any Group Company ] [ and any other individual involved in the management of the Company’s affairs ] ; Pension Scheme means any arrangement or practice providing for, or contributing towards, an annuity, pension, lump sum, gratuity, or similar benefit on retirement, long-term ill-health, or death, or pursuant to a pension sharing order, arising from the service or historic service of an Employee or any other person, or for the benefit of that individual’s dependants; and Pension Schemes shall be construed accordingly......

First West Yorkshire Ltd t/a First Leeds v Haigh The EAT found that fairness means a reasonable employer must give genuine consideration to any ill‑health retirement scheme before dismissing for long‑term sickness, consistent with overall fairness. In particular, where an employer offers an enhanced pension on retirement due to ill health, it will be expected to take reasonable steps to determine whether the employee is eligible for the benefit of ill‑health retirement under the relevant scheme in question...

Termination payments qualifying for £30,000 exemption As set out in Practice Note: Termination payments qualifying for £30,000 exemption, where a compensation payment for loss of office or employment is made in circumstances where it does not fall to be taxed as: earnings within section 62 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003) (see Practice Note: Termination payments taxed as earnings) benefits-in-kind (see Practice Note: How employment income is taxed—non-cash earnings or benefits) benefits from an employer-financed retirement benefits scheme employment-related securities (see: Employment-related securities—overview) disguised remuneration, where termination payments or benefits are provided by a third party (such as an employee benefit trust) rather than the employer (see: Disguised remuneration and EBTs—overview) restrictive undertakings (see Practice Note: Taxation of payments for restrictive covenants or undertakings) and for terminations for loss of office since 6 April 2018...