Recommendation 17

As a direct result of concerns about these increasing contributions, around 200 independent schools are set to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. HM Treasury told us that the Department for Education has worked very closely with the Teachers’ Pension Scheme to make sure that current teachers affected by this can stay within their existing pension scheme.38 However, the withdrawal of these schools may put further pressure on those schools that remain. For example, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association—the employers’ association for universities and colleges of higher education in the United Kingdom—wrote to us that at least one higher education institution has had to make redundancies in response to the 2019–20 increase in employers pension costs.39 31 Qq 80–82; British Medical Association, written evidence submitted to the Committee, April 2021 32 British Medical Association, written evidence submitted to the Committee, April 2021 33 Qq 80–82 34 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.14, 2.15 35 Qq 9–11, 79–80 36 Qq 9–10; C&AG’s Report para 2.16 37 Q 10 38 Qq 12–14 39 Universities and Colleges Employers Association, written evidence to the Committee, April 2021 Public Sector Pensions 13