Dear Colleague,

BT Pension Scheme: Crown Guarantee The High Court today gave judgment in a case designed to clarify the extent of the Crown Guarantee.

The Crown Guarantee was put in place by the UK Government on the privatisation of BT in 1984 and would only come into effect if BT ever became insolvent. The Government gave a guarantee that it would stand behind BT's obligations to the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) so providing protection for BTPS members.

The case was brought by the Trustee of the BTPS to clarify the scope and extent of the Crown Guarantee as this has never fully been resolved. The key part of the ruling is that the Crown Guarantee can cover members who joined both before and after privatisation. The CWU has long called for clarity on this issue and the outcome of the case is welcome.

The BTPS Trustee has said that the case gives additional clarity and is favourable for BTPS members. BT, which fully supported the case, has stated that the case will have no impact on the existing agreed payments that will be made into the BTPS.

While resolving the most important questions about the Guarantee the Judgment did leave some further issues to be resolved.

It is also possible that the High Court's decision may be subject to appeal by the Government.

Further developments will be reported in due course.