EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE DECISION ON INSOLVENT OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES

That this House notes the judgment by the European Court of Justice that current UK measures to protect the expected pensions of members of occupational pension schemes in the event of their employer becoming insolvent are inadequate and unlawful under the requirements of the Insolvency Directive; further notes the terrible impact that the failure of successive governments in this regard has had on members of the ASW, UEF, Kalamazoo and other schemes and the estimated 125,000 pension scheme members who have lost their expected pensions, despite the £2.3 billion set aside for the Financial Assistance Scheme; believes that this situation is the fault of successive governments; and therefore calls upon the Government to take steps in the Pensions Bill currently before Parliament to ensure that those who lost their expected pension due to employer insolvency receive the pensions they saved for.