Section 153B provides for the Treasury to make regulations under section 153A, save that the Scottish and Welsh Ministers are to make such regulations in relation to exit payments by relevant Scottish authorities and relevant Welsh exit payments respectively. Section 153C provides that a Minister of the Crown, or where appropriate the Scottish Ministers or Welsh Ministers, may relax a restriction imposed by regulations made under section 153A, and makes further provision about the exercise of those powers. Paragraph 4 confers a power to make regulations to amend public sector schemes to ensure that where the restriction on exit payments would have the effect of preventing immediate payment of an unreduced pension or preventing an employer paying an extra charge to the scheme, benefits are instead immediately payable subject to an appropriate early payment deduction, and that an individual may choose to buy out all or part of that deduction. on account of dismissal by reason of redundancy on voluntary exit to reduce or eliminate an actuarial reduction to a pension on early retirement or in respect of the cost to a pension scheme of such a reduction not being made ex gratia in respect of an outstanding entitlement of compensation under the terms of a contract; in lieu of notice in the form of shares or share options. An exit payment for the purposes of these regulations is a payment of a prescribed description which includes any payment: Action required by employers In September 2016 the government published their response to the consultation on ‘ Reforms to public sector exit payments ’. The response outlined the government’s expectations that departments should begin work to produce proposals for reform for each workforce by the end of 2016. The major workforces covered by existing statutory compensation schemes and other contractual exit arrangements were expected to begin reforms immediately. These are the: Civil Service, NHS, Local Government, Teachers, Police, Firefighters and Armed Forces. 5.1 Consistent with the government’s view that it remains appropriate for the detail of exit arrangements to be negotiated at workforce level, departments responsible for the workforces will take forward the detailed design and analysis of proposals for exit payment reform, within the overall framework and principles for reform set out in this document. 5.2 Following the publication of this document the government expects departments to begin work immediately to produce proposals for reform for each workforce that are consistent with the terms set out in this document and with the government’s principles for reform. 5.3 As set out above, the government will consider the case for applying elements of the framework flexibly on a workforce by workforce basis. Examples of where the government may consider there is a case for flexibility may include where it can be demonstrated that a particular option may not lead to significant cost savings; where there is an alternative approach that may deliver commensurate cost savings; or where workforce demographics mean that a particular option may have unwarranted equalities or other workforce impacts. 5.4 The government expects departments to put forward proposals for reform within three months of the publication of this government response. Departments should then consult on proposals as appropriate and should follow the normal process of discussions and negotiations with Trade Unions and other workforce representatives in order to seek agreement to their reform proposals. The government expects this discussion process to be concluded, agreement reached and the necessary changes made to compensation schemes and other arrangements within nine months of the publication of this response. Chapter 5 of the consultation response outlines the ‘ Process and timeline for reform ’:
5.5 Should it not be possible to achieve meaningful reform for one or more workforces, the government will consider options for primary legislation to take forward reform.
Chapter 6 outlines the position for devolved administrations :
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