Pensions A-Z
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Public Sector: Assessment of Broad Comparability
When a private contractor enters into an outsourcing contract with a Government body or agency it must (unless it becomes an admitted body in the Local Government Pension Scheme) offer transferring staff membership of a pension scheme which, though not identical, is "broadly comparable" to the public sector scheme which they are leaving.
Broad comparability is assessed by the Government Actuary's Department (GAD). In order for a scheme to be "broadly comparable" there must be no identifiable employee(s) who will suffer material detriment overall in terms of their future accrual of pension benefits under the alternative scheme.
GAD can either issue a "certificate of broad comparability" or a "passport". A certificate applies to only one transfer, whereas a passport relates to a scheme (for a certain period, usually two years) and can cover a number of transfers.