The Pubic Accounts Committee has launched an inquiry into the Atomic Energy Agency (AEA) Technology pension case, looking at the scheme's restructure in 1996 and subsequent issues faced by members.

As part of this, the committee announced plans to question Government Actuary, Martin Clarke, and the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman chief executive, Amanda Campbell, on the case.

This inquiry is based on an ongoing National Audit Office (NAO) investigation that is expected to set out the facts surrounding the AEA Technology pension scheme restructure in 1996.

It is also looking at the pension scheme members’ subsequent complaints that they were badly advised by the Government Actuary, and the difficulties they have had in getting their complaints heard.

Issues around the scheme first arose after the commercial arm of UK AEA Technology was privatised in 1996, meaning that its employees could no longer pay into the public sector pension scheme.

According to the NAO, nearly 90 per cent of members chose to transfer their accrued benefits to the new scheme following information provided by public bodies, with legislation at the time requiring transferred pension to have no less favourable benefits within the new scheme.

However, the AEA Technology faced financial difficulty and restructured in 2012, with the scheme subsequently entering the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), with members left with lower benefits than the previous scheme.

Since then, according to the NAO, scheme members have raised complaints and sought redress from several parts of government.

The NAO's briefing on the AEA Technology pension case is expected to be published in Spring 2023.

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