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Written question asked by Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 13 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 18 May 2026. It was answered by Torsten Bell (Labour) on Thursday, 21 May 2026 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

AEA Group: Workplace Pensions

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a process to allow Atomic Energy Authority Technology pension scheme closed section members to leave the Pension Protection Fund and re-join a public sector pension scheme, including the UK Atomic Energy Authority scheme.

Answer

The Pension Protection Fund is a compensation scheme, and its operating structure reflects this. The Pension Protection Fund does not operate as a segregated fund, where individual schemes contributions are ringfenced. Once a scheme transfers to the Pension Protection Fund, the scheme does not exist anymore.

Through the Pension Schemes Act, we have taken action by introducing legislation to provide annual increases on compensation payments from the Pension Protection Fund on pensions built up before 6 April 1997, where schemes provided for this. We are now focusing on the implementation of this change, and I can confirm that AEAT members with pre-97 accrual will benefit.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
1001
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Workplace pensions AEA Group
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk