It’s been a while since my last update in November but CUKPA has continued to be very active.

4 different letters have now been sent by a large number of you. I have been copied in on around 200 responses but hopefully there were a lot more sent on which I wasn’t copied on. 

Many of your MP responses have indicated positive support whilst a number (generally from Labour members) got a response setting out the Government line.

Just under 50 individual MPs have been contacted with some receiving letters from a number of members.  Lib Dems, Greens and SNP have been consistently supportive.

CUKPA has also written to the Pensions Minister (Torsten Bell) and his boss Pat McFadden and we have submitted a response to a Department of Work and Pensions consultation The Alliance has written to the Prime Minister and has also been very busy lobbying their MPs together with a face-to-face meeting with the Pensions Minister. 

The Bill is currently in the Lords before it comes back to the Commons for the final stage. Lord Davies and a few colleagues have been particularly vocal about the faults with the Bill and that it is being rushed through when it is not legally fit for purpose.

Unfortunately, however, to date no significant amendments of the type we are after have been accepted.

But we haven’t given up yet. I hope to shortly send out another letter for you all to send to your MP, to line up with when the Bill comes back to the Commons.  This will focus on our concerns about the proposals to allow scheme surpluses to be handed back to Employers which we feel has not been properly thought through at all and poses huge risks to Defined Benefit schemes like ours.

Thanks for all your help so far. Please continue to support us.

Steve Ladle, CUKPA Campaign Manager

Alliance Facebook page link – https://www.facebook.com/groups/757211736207518/

Link to the progress of the Scheme Bill

https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3982