Consultation on pre-2002 Civil Service widow/widowers pension arrangements effective from April 2016 This consultation sets out the Department of Finance and Personnel’s proposed changes to pre-2002 Civil Service widows/widowers pension arrangements with effect from 1 April 2016. The Department proposes two key changes: to remove the cessation for surviving widows/widowers in the event of future remarriage or cohabitation, and, to reinstate pensions to surviving widows/widowers who have remarried or cohabited with a new partner. It is intended that both elements will come into effect from 1 April 2016. Payments will not be retrospective.
The consultation period on proposed changes to pre-2002 Civil Service widows/widowers pension arrangements began on 16 December 2015. The Department welcomed responses from surviving widows/widowers who may be impacted by the current policy; civil service members of the ‘classic’ section; civil service and pensioner representative groups and civil service employers.
After the consultation period ended on 9 February 2016, the Minister for the Department of Finance and Personnel agreed the Department’s response to the consultation.