News In Focus
23 February 2007
Government to appeal against pensions ruling
The government is to appeal against this week's High Court ruling on pensions.
Pensions Secretary John Hutton told the House of Commons yesterday that he would challenge the finding that the government acted unlawfully by ignoring the ombudsman's report of 2006 which recommended that up to 125,000 workers be compensated after losing out on pensions when their firms collapsed.
Mr Hutton said the government had not yet decided on what grounds the appeal would take, but ministers would be taking time to consider the implications in full. He added that the government had already provided workers who had lost their pensions with financial assistance.
Lawyer Jim Halford, whose firm represented the four pensioners who successfully challenged the government, said the appeal could be about whether or not an ombudsman's recommendations should always be taken up.