A retirement calculator that helps people understand the pension implications of the McCloud ruling is now live for 12 different pension schemes, the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) has announced.

Plans for the calculator were first announced in 2022 in response to the 2018 McCloud ruling, which found that changes to the public sector pensions were discriminatory on the grounds of age.

The judgement meant that some public sector pension scheme members have the choice between two different types of benefits: legacy schemes or reformed schemes.

The retirement calculator therefore aims to help scheme members eligible for the 2015 remedy make an “informed decision” on which scheme is better for them, providing savers with an illustration of the benefits they could receive under the legacy and reformed schemes, under a range of assumptions.

In addition to this, the calculator will allow members to compare these benefits using different retirement options, such as early or late retirement, or exchanging pension for a cash lump sum.

This, according to GAD, is expected to allow scheme members to explore the retirement options most relevant to them and check that they are making the best decision for them as an individual.

The GAD also explained that members will be able to see the impact of their choices "at a glance", as the calculator was created in Python, which is able to provide complex numerical information in a simple graphical format.

Although the bespoke platform aims to allow members to access all communications relating to their McCloud decision, through a single login, the calculator was also designed to allow scheme administrators to link it to their member data.

The platform is live for 12 pension scheme clients, including the police in England and Wales, four unfunded pension schemes in Scotland, and the civil service.

GAD actuary, John Bayliss, commented: “In the retirement calculator you can see graphically which one scheme might be better for you.

“It’s an illustration of what the remedy might mean for public service pension scheme members affected by remedy.”

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