You may have heard or read in the news about how UK pension schemes have been required by law to review and if needed, amend members’ benefits. This is to make sure there are no inequalities between men and women resulting from their Guaranteed Minimum Pension benefits (GMPs). The process is called “GMP equalisation”. This page tells you more about how the Trustee has worked with its advisers on the Scheme’s GMP equalisation project and what it will mean for members.
Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) and Equalisation

Click the video below to watch a simple GMP equalisation explainer video
If money is due to you, we will write to you individually. But first, some information on what it’s all about:
What is a GMP?
A GMP is a minimum level of pension earned between April 1978 and April 1997 in a workplace pension scheme that was contracted-out of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). During that period, contracted-out members paid reduced National Insurance contributions and did not contribute to SERPS. Instead, a member’s workplace pension scheme included a GMP element broadly equivalent to the pension they would have earned in SERPS. A GMP is usually only a small part of a member’s overall pension.
Why are workplace pensions that include GMPs potentially unequal?
State Pension (including SERPS) retirement ages were unequal until the Pensions Act 1995 introduced new legislation to gradually equalise them over time. GMPs were calculated in broadly the same way as SERPS and so GMPs were not equal for men and women. On 26 October 2018, the High Court ruled that workplace pension schemes must equalise benefits for the effects of GMPs on the pensions of men and women from May 1990 until GMPs ceased to be earned in April 1997.
Reviewing and amending member benefits
The GMP equalisation project has been complex because the Trustee and its advisers needed to go back over decades of records to work out who has been affected and how to make adjustments. This involves recalculating benefits for people who are retired and their dependants as well as those who have not yet retired to make sure they receive what they are due.
To work out the equalised benefits for each member, we have calculated the total pension each member would have built up if they were the opposite sex, allowing for the difference in the way GMP is calculated for men and women. If this would have resulted in a higher total pension in the past, a lump sum is being paid, with interest, to make good any past underpayment. If the opposite sex pension is higher currently, their pension in payment is being increased.
The simple example below shows how this works:
Example male pensioner number
- Current Annual Pension: £12,000
- Calculated Pension if Opposite Sex (Female): £12,050
In this example, we have calculated the pension the member would have built-up if they were the opposite sex. If the member were female, their pension would have been £12,050.
The higher amount of £12,050 is taken as the equalised pension and the members pension is uplifted.
We also calculate any back payments owed for past years. The member has been receiving £12,000 annually for 5 years:
- Difference per year: £12,050 - £12,000 = £50
- Total back payment: £50×5 years = £250 plus interest
How do you know if you have a GMP in the Scheme?
You are likely to have a GMP if you are a member who has a Defined Benefit (DB) pension in the Scheme and you were building up benefits between April 1978 and April 1997.
You may also have a GMP if you transferred DB benefits into the Scheme from another contracted-out DB scheme where you had built up benefits between April 1978 and April 1997.
If you are a pensioner member, your pension increase letter will confirm if you have a GMP.
How do you know if you are affected by the GMP equalisation project?
The Court requires the benefits of members who were building up a GMP between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997 are reviewed as part of the GMP equalisation project. The changes in pension amounts are likely to be small for most members with a GMP. Many members will not see a change to their benefits. No pensions will be reduced as a result of the GMP equalisation project.
If you are a pensioner and you are due an uplift to your pension, you will be sent a letter from the Scheme explaining this whenthe calculations have been completed.
If you have not yet taken your benefits, your pension recordswill be updated and equalisation will be taken into account at the time that you take your benefits from the Scheme.
Will you need to pay any tax if your benefits are affected?
If you are due a one-off payment to make good any past pension underpayments, we will deduct income tax in the normal way. In most cases we are required to pay the interest element without deducting taxbut you may need to check whether you need to pay tax on the interest element.
If you have significant pensions savings or benefits, you may have been impacted in the past by the Lifetime Allowance (LTA).Any uplift or additional payment may affect your past LTA usage, so you may also need to check whether an LTA charge is due.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
All these points and more are covered in an FAQ document we have put together. It’s a good place to check if you have any questions about how the equalisation project might impact your benefits
More information
Member guides
If you want to understand more about your DB benefits in the Scheme, you can find all the member guides in the Information Centre on futurefocus.
Government information
The Gov.UK website also provides information about the requirements to equalise GMP benefits at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8427/