Denial of LGPS survivors’ pension to cohabitee partner of pre 2008 scheme member not in breach of ECHR

New High Court judgment - [2018] EWHC 2871 (Admin) considers ECHR challenge to the denial of a survivors local government pension to a surviving unmarried pensioner partner on the death of her partner (who had stopped paying into his 1997 scheme pension in 2003) as he was not covered by prospective rule changes in 2008 that allowed cohabitees’ entitlement only for active members from 2008 onwards - and concludes -

‘Taking a step back and assessing matters in the round, I am here concerned with matters of economic and social strategy, in relation to which the national authorities are entitled to a broad area of discretionary judgment: see Cockburn, supra, at [77]. In my judgment the Secretary of State was fully entitled not to provide retrospective survivors’ pensions for members of the 1997 Scheme in circumstances where members had not indicated a wish to pay for this benefit, which meant that if the Secretary of State had taken that course, the result would have been the imposition of the cost on members against their wishes and/or the imposition of significant extra liabilities on the public purse.’ (paragraph 218)

Justice Knowles also finds that -

‘In my judgment the Secretary of State is correct to submit that [the reasoning in McLaughlin] has no ‘read-across’ to the justifications advanced by him and by the Council in the present case.’ (paragraph 220)