Motion for SHESC: transparency and the USS Joint Expert Panel
Conference notes:
- that satisfactory recommendations from the UCU-UUK Joint Expert Panel (JEP) are crucial to acceptable resolution of the USS dispute;
- that the lack of transparency severely undermined confidence in the 2017 USS valuation process;
- that the current Terms of Reference make both submitted evidence and discussions among the JEP confidential.
Conference resolves:
- That UCU will accept any JEP recommendations as authoritative only if accessible and convincing explanations of the following are provided:
(i) the evidence and reasoning by which any Scheme deficit or surplus is calculated by the JEP, in light of the high level of actual investment returns;
(ii) the evidence and reasoning used by the JEP to estimate of the strength of the employer covenant;
(iii) the evidence and reasoning underlying the JEP’s calculation of the contribution rates needed to fund various levels and types of future defined benefits.
– Motion carried
12 June 2018