Government gives 'knee-jerk reactions' on pensions fiasco
Rather than having a properly planned strategy regarding the victims of pension schemes that have wound up underfunded, the government has instead offered only "knee-jerk" responses to events as they unfold, it has been claimed.
Independent policy adviser Dr Ros Altman has reported that the Department for Work and Pensions has been sent a letter from the Pensions Action Group relating to a judicial review of the recent decisions concerning the Financial Assistance Scheme.
The group claims that the decision to include some solvent schemes and not others is both irrational and unlawful, while the extensions set out by the government do not properly comply with the recent High Court ruling on the issue.
Dr Altman said: "The government has consistently ignored all the evidence and rulings against it. Such behaviour is totally unprecedented."
She added that it was unique for a government to dismiss the findings of the High Court, Parliamentary Ombudsman and public administration select committee in this manner.
In March 2007, the Department for Work and Pensions announced a review of pension scheme assets held by now insolvent employers to determine if these funds may be used to compensate victims of affected pension plans.
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