On the go: The government has allocated £425mn for back payments to members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, and others within scope of the Goodwin ruling from 2020.
The Goodwin case arose as a result of sex and sexual orientation discrimination that saw survivors of both opposite-sex marriages and civil partnerships treated less favourably than survivors in same-sex marriages and civil partnerships.
The case was brought against the Department for Education but stemmed from scheme rules in the TPS. The scheme itself announced in December that its rules would be amended to establish parity, ensuring that the male spouse or civil partner of a female member is treated in the same way as a same-sex spouse or civil partner.
Work recalculating payments began in April last year and is expected to be completed by June 2023
In last year’s Budget, the Treasury estimated that the Goodwin remedy would cost around £3bn over 40 years, though the Office for Budget Responsibility noted at the time that “uncertainty over how the remediation will be implemented means that it has not been possible to reflect the associated costs in this forecast”.
At least part of the remedy has now taken shape, however, as the government has pledged £425mn over the next six years in payments to affected members that will be backdated to 2005, when same-sex civil partnerships were introduced.
The Government Actuary’s Department used data supplied by Capita — which administers the TPS — to project the cost of the remedy, though it noted that because of the type of data and the way it has been used, the precise costing remains uncertain.
However, its projections are that the remedy will cost £60mn for 2021-22, £140mn for 2022-23, falling then to £75mn for 2023-24, and then again to £50mn a year, where it will remain until 2027.
