Supreme Court to hear case over cohabitees and Local Government Pension Scheme

The Supreme Court has given permission to appeal to a claimant who argues that cohabitees are discriminated against under the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

Under both the Northern Ireland and England and Wales versions of the LGPS partners who were not married or in civil partnerships are disqualified if their deceased partner did not complete a nomination form. There is no nomination form requirement for spouses and civil partners.

The claimant in the case of In the matter of an application by Denise Brewster for Judicial Review is a Coleraine woman whose partner, Lenny McMullan, died suddenly in 2009. They had lived together for ten years.

According to a report in the Coleraine Times in October 2013, Ms Brewster received half of a £68,000 death grant but the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC) declined to award her a pension because Mr McMullan had not completed a nomination form.

Ms Brewster challenged the requirement and won in the High Court of Northern Ireland. But this ruling was overturned by a 2:1 majority in the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal.

A test case challenging the lawfulness of the requirement in the England and Wales scheme was stayed behind Denise Brewster’s challenge.

Deighton Pierce Glynn, which is acting in the England and Wales case, said both challenges “raise important points of principle about the test for justifying discriminatory treatment directed towards cohabitees relevant not only to the local government pensions but also more broadly”.

Coleraine law firm McCallum O’Kane Solicitors are acting for Ms Brewster.