§ Mr. ColmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what actions the Government are planning to take to protect the pension rights of employees who are transferred out of local government as a result of the termination of an agency 415W agreement, with particular reference to employees currently being transferred to Severn Trent plc; if the Government will ensure that employees are offered a bulk transfer of past service rights from the Local Government Pension Scheme to the new employer's pension scheme; and if it will amend the LGPS Regulations urgently to permit an agreement enabling staff to remain in the LGPS. [117601]
§ Ms Beverley HughesThe Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 1997 allow bulk transfers of pension rights to be negotiated between local authority employers and private sector employers following any transfer of an undertaking. Within these provisions, the onus to ensure fairness and the protection of employees' pension rights rests with the appropriate employers involved in any transfer.
The extent to which employees in local authorities work on the delivery of privatised water company services through agency agreements, and the availability of alternative broadly comparable pension arrangements to those employed under them, is being established with the co-operation of the Local Government Pension Committee of the Employers' Organisation. In the light of that survey, I will consider carefully the need for any amendments to the Scheme Regulations.