A New Year Message from Maj Gen Neil Marshall, CEO, FPS
Our vision at the Forces Pension Society is to enhance Armed Forces Pension clarity for our Members and influence policy, now and for future generations. With these objectives in mind, 2022 promises to be an extremely busy year for the Society. And for many, there will be added layers of intricacy to face, making pension choices even more complex.
That’s why we will maintain our laser-focus on holding the MoD and wider government to account for the successful implementation of the so-called McCloud remedy. This affects thousands of currently serving and recently retired members of the Armed Forces.
The government’s decision to implement the Deferred Choice Underpin (DCU) option to redress the age discrimination issue from 2015, involves significant, wider issues that will dominate the pension landscape over the next two to three years, impacting the speed at which the remedy will be applied. Without going into the technical details, I can assure you that the Society will track events closely and be ready when the time comes to provide individual guidance to our Members about the implications for them. Those in Resettlement will be particularly concerned to understand how this affects them during what is already a challenging period ahead.
An important milestone in this process will be the MoD’s release of the revised McCloud Calculator “anticipated early in 2022”, designed to enable people to answer the question “how will it affect me?” But here I counsel patience as the volume of work required by MoD and Veterans UK goes way beyond the development of the calculator. Entire systems, policies and processes must be updated ahead of the October 2023 remedy implementation deadline.
Our Forces Pensions Consultants, who respond to over 15,000 enquiries every year, are well prepared to provide the guidance our Members will need in the year ahead.
We go into 2022 with a record number of Members – more than 62,000 and growing steadily. This strengthens our ability to influence events as we represent the interests of the Armed Forces Community on the representative bodies for Armed Forces and Public Services Pensions.
Finally, in wishing you a Happy New Year, I would urge you to take control of your pension and discover how to do that by joining us. As we always say, it pays to understand your pension.
For information about how membership of the Society can benefit you, please visit www.forcespensionsociety.org