The government is seemingly set to address issues around the Virgin Media case as part of the Pension Schemes Bill, having now tabled a series of amendments to the bill ahead of its committee stage this week.

As part of the amendments tabled, the government outlined measures to allow pension schemes to deal with issues arising from the Virgin Media judgment, in an effort to quell industry uncertainty.

LCP partner and head of pensions research, David Everett, said that the amendments represent a "well-thought through intervention that should enable a comprehensive resolution to be achieved as well as enabling further legislation to be produced should the need arise".

"The clauses providing for the new actuarial confirmation reflect the need for a pragmatic approach and as such are most welcome," he stated.

However, Everett clarified that the new test will not be a silver bullet in all cases and actuaries called upon by trustees to give the new confirmation will need to tread carefully.

"Trustees can take comfort that the government has not set any time limit within which alterations within scope need to be considered under this legislation," he stated.

"How and when trustees choose to address any Virgin Media issues can be driven by other considerations, but until they use this legislation any Virgin Media benefit uncertainty will continue to exist within their scheme”.

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