19 August 2024 
Joni Rhodes, BUFDG Project Manager
In July 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s ruling in the Virgin Media v NTL Pension Trustees II case relating to section 37 and contracted-out defined benefit (DB) scheme amendments.
On the assumption that this may give rise to audit queries in the coming months, USS have shared the following update:
"We are aware that employers may need to provide a response to thseir auditors in relation to the Virgin Media vs NTL Pension Trustees II judgment.
Like the rest of the pensions industry, we will be carefully considering any implications of the judgment and any further developments, such as any appeal or legislative intervention by the government.
The issues are detailed and technical. To provide some context, the relevant requirements were in place for almost 20 years from 1997 and not all scheme changes required actuarial confirmations.
And, as above, the legal position may also yet evolve.
It will therefore take time to confirm whether there are any implications for the scheme.
We will update our stakeholders as and when there are any notable developments."
