What’s the McCloud judgment?
In 2015 (2014 for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) England and Wales), the government introduced reforms to public service pension schemes and most active members were moved into the new career average schemes with later normal retirement ages. The government created some transitional rules for workers within 10 years of retirement to protect them from the changes, on the basis that they had less time to plan for their retirement.
These changes were challenged by members of the Judicial (the McCloud case) and Firefighters’ pension schemes on the grounds of age discrimination. In July 2019 the Court of Appeal ruled that younger workers – those more than 10 years from retirement – were unfairly discriminated against.
The government accepted the Court’s decision and has confirmed that the difference in treatment will need to be remedied across the board. All public service schemes including those for the NHS, Civil Service, Teachers, Local Government, Armed Forces, Judicial, Police and Firefighters will be affected.