In November last year, BT brought proceedings in the High Court challenging the validity of a decision taken by HM Treasury (HMT) about how benefits are increased in public sector pension schemes. The method chosen by HMT meant that the same pension increases would also apply for Section B members of the BT Pension Scheme who reach State Pension age between 6 December 2018 and 5 April 2021. The Court held that HMT’s decision was valid. The Court of Appeal granted BT permission to appeal this decision and the appeal hearing is due to take place on 11th and 12th December.

The hearing will be live streamed and can be accessed from the judiciary’s website here. The video will also be accessible from this website after the hearing.

The Trustee of the BT Pension Scheme is an interested party in this hearing and, as they have done previously, will ensure the Court has all relevant information that it may need in order to make a decision. 

We hope to receive a decision in early 2020 and the Trustee will continue to provide updates on any further developments.