Unions take govt to court over cost floor inaction

The Fire Brigades Union and the Public and Commercial Services Union had sought permission to seek a judicial review of government inaction in February. The two unions have now commenced legal action in the High Court, alongside the the Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers and the GMB union.

The action relates to the government’s obligations under an arrangement known as the cost cap and floor. A valuation of public sector pensions in 2018 found that some public sector employers were not spending enough on pensions, meaning benefits should be uplifted for members of those schemes.

But in January 2019, Elizabeth Truss, then chief secretary to the Treasury, announced that the government was halting the increases due to the “potentially significant but uncertain impact” of a discrimination court case brought by firefighters and judges, known as the McCloud case.

The unions have claimed that the delay robs public sector workers of contributions worth 2 per cent of salary every month.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, cited the FBU’s string of legal victories against the government in various stages of the McCloud case, where it was successfully argued that protecting older workers from public sector pension changes amounted to age discrimination.

“Fewer than six months ago we beat the government in court over pensions and their unwillingness to listen to our concerns, and we are ready and willing to do it again to get our members and thousands of public service workers the improvements they are owed,” Mr Wrack said.

“Ministers know full well that they are in breach of the regulations, which clearly state that if the cost of financing the scheme drops, then the benefits should be passed on to members,” he continued.

“Refusing to accept this and pausing the process amounts to a dirty trick, which now means many of those in the scheme will have had their improvements withheld for more than a year.”