Member

Rules providing for the cessation of survivor pensions where a survivor remarries or cohabits were typically a feature of older legacy public service pension schemes such as the 1987 police pension scheme. Those schemes are now closed to further accrual. Such rules were considered appropriate at the time that those older schemes were devised. However, I cannot accept the proposal for an independent review. The Government do not believe that it is generally appropriate to make retrospective improvements to public service pensions accrued in the past. This is consistent, I must say, with the approach taken by the coalition Government when they reformed public service pensions. Since the Government do not intend to make retrospective changes to survivor pensions in public service pension schemes, an independent review, as proposed by the amendment, would not be appropriate.