3.9% UK pensions hike confirmed

Retired staff on pensions from Reuters Pension Fund and the Supplementary Pension Scheme will receive the extra money on 15 June. It will be backdated to 1 January. The increase applies equally to pensions in payment and deferred pensions.

It is the third year in a row that pensions paid by the RPF and SPS final salary schemes have been increased in line with inflation, after increases on pensions earned before 1997 were suspended for the three years 2003-2005. 

Inflation protection resumed in 2006, with pensions rising 2.7 per cent in 2006 and 3.7 per cent in 2007.

Update newsletters issued by the managing committee and trustees of the two funds said: “The increase to these pensions required the Company’s specific consent which was granted this year as a goodwill gesture, but should not be seen as a precedent for future years.”

They said the discretionary pension increases have only been possible because of the financial health of the schemes and with the company’s consent. “The position next year may be different,” they cautioned. “While the Trustees hope there will be more good news about discretionary pension increases in future, there are no guarantees this will be the case.”

Retired staff whose pensions are paid in overseas currencies have had their total pension increased in line with their local inflation.

The 3.9 per cent increase was first announced by CEO Tom Glocer at the Retired Members’ Luncheon in London on 25 April. ■