LATEST NEWS ON EXIT PAYMENTS CAP AND EXIT PAYMENTS RECOVERY
For an update (as at late April 2017) on the timetable for the introduction of these measures, read on; and for a fuller (but earlier) explanation of the position in this long-running saga, [private] click here.
Exit payments cap
You may have seen speculation in the local government press that the £95k cap on exit payments might be ditched. While ALACE would warmly welcome such a step, it would be inappropriate for members to base decisions on such speculation. It will be interesting to see if the topic features in the forthcoming manifestos – as it did in the Conservative manifesto in 2015 – and it remains for the new Government that takes office after 8 June to decide whether and how to implement the measures that are on the face of primary legislation. What is certain is that implementation will at the very least be delayed. Even if the new Government made it a priority to commence consultation on draft regulations in, say, June, it is highly unlikely indeed that meaningful consultation could be concluded and the regulations approved by both Houses of Parliament before the summer recess, which commences on 20 July. Both Houses return on 5 September. Thus in our view the very earliest that regulations might come into force is 1 October 2017 – and that assumes the new Government will give the matter priority in the few weeks after the General Election. It is unlikely that there will be any concrete information about what is going to happen and when until some point after 9 June: we will keep members updated.
The five public sector trade unions that submitted a joint response in April 2016 (ALACE, FDA, GMB, MiP, and UNISON – led by ALACE) will be taking up the Treasury’s offer of a meeting once any consultation period starts on draft regulations.
Exit payments recovery
There is equal uncertainty as to when/whether the Treasury will lay before Parliament the Regulations on the recovery of exit payments, on which no further consultation is expected. [/private]