Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether people working in nuclear decommissioning for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will be exempt from the provisions of the Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2020.

The Office for National Statistics classifies the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority as public sector and therefore it is appropriate that they are in scope of the cap.

However, we recognise that the function of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is time-limited. Therefore, all employees are covered by a mandatory waiver. This means employees whose employment is terminated as a result of the decommissioning programme and for a reason which amounts to redundancy can receive, without seeking ministerial approval, certain pension related payments above the 95K threshold.

This was agreed between HM Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Unions and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in 2017.

This ensures the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority can continue to effectively fulfil their function and employees receive suitable renumeration for the important work they do.