Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further discussions and consultation took place with stakeholders as part of the 2014 Review of Survivor Benefits in Public Sector Pension Schemes, following the Walker v. Innospec court case, before the decision was made not to equalize benefits in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

In July 2019, the government published its response to the Review of Survivor Benefits. Following internal discussions, the Government concluded that, beyond its decision to equalise the benefits received by surviving male same-sex and female same-sex spouses and civil partners with those received by the widows of opposite sex marriages in public service schemes, in the majority of cases, following the Supreme Court judgment in Walker v Innospec, it would not make any further retrospective changes to equalise survivor benefits. There was no further external consultation on the issue of male survivors of opposite sex marriages. The position has since changed following a claim brought against the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. The Department for Education will consult on regulatory amendments that give effect to a declaration agreed between the parties and made by consent by the Employment Tribunal to ensure that the surviving opposite-sex spouse or civil partner of a female member is treated in the same way as a surviving same-sex spouse or civil partner of a female member. The government believes that this difference in treatment will also need to be remedied in other public service pension schemes.