Scheme Surplus: Trustee Resolution Required

Surpluses in defined benefit schemes may be a distant memory for most, but trustees (and employers) must act now if the employer is going to retain the opportunity to access surplus monies from an ongoing scheme after April 2016. Scheme provisions enabling repayment of surplus to an employer during the winding up of a pension scheme are not affected. 

Legislation introduced in 2005 (and revised in 2012) gives trustees until 5 April 2016 to pass a resolution enabling the employer to receive surplus from an ongoing scheme. This applies only to schemes which already have provision for the trustees to pay surplus to the employer – there is no scope for the resolution to introduce a new power where one does not already exist. Where trustees wish to preserve the existing provision, scheme members must be given at least three months' notice of any intended resolution meaning that trustees need to act by the end of this year. If a resolution is not passed before 6 April