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Breaking News on Pensions

The draft Pension Regulations will now not be ready as planned before 31 August 2009. The Education Minister has now decided to have an Equality Impact Assessment on the draft Regulations.

This means that all teachers leaving the profession this year on the grounds of redundancy will require to have their pension lump sums and redundancy payments recalculated. Teachers leaving their posts because of redundancy this year, who are over the age of 50, will now be in receipt of pension and their lump sum with effect from 1 September 2009. They will also be in receipt of a redundancy payment.

Frank Bunting, Northern Secretary, said: “This is an extraordinary about turn. It is in no small way due to the campaign by INTO and its members against the rushed nature by the Department of Education for the introduction of these Regulations.

"However, it is very very late in the school year for this decision to be made. There is a a dire necessity for more timely decision making with regard to such serious workforce planning matters as teachers lose their jobs through redundancy."

Date: Wednesday, 24 June 09