Universities UK (UUK) have run a consultation on the technical provisions which underpin the valuation of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). UUK and the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) are in negotiations about potential changes to USS, following a revaluation exercise of the USS which shows it in substantial deficit. Details of the current pensions proposals can be found on our Sussed Noticeboard.
The consultation concerned the technical provisions behind the revaluation. The University has submitted a response to that consultation, which can be found here.
Since receiving our response, UUK has consolidated all the responses on behalf of the sector and submitted their response to the USS consultation. The UUK response proposes a number of essential changes in order to avoid an approach that they believe incorporates an unnecessarily high level of prudence, to the potential detriment of the scheme’s stakeholders. These include arguments for adjustment of the discount rate and the inflation risk premium, changes to the assumptions regarding the RPI/CPI gap and projected salary increases and proposes an extension of the recovery period to 20 years. These points are in line with the University’s response.
UUK are currently in the middle of an intense series of negotiating meetings with the UCU between now and mid-January. It is hoped that we can close the differences between the negotiating positions, with a view to reaching agreement on necessary reforms to the USS scheme. Both parties are committed to seeking a joint proposal for reform that offers an affordable, sustainable and attractive pension scheme, for both current and future members.