McCloud Remedy - a Ground to Set Aside Financial Orders?

Many will recall the McCloud judgment in which the Court of Appeal determined that the transitional provisions in the Government’s 2015 public sector pension schemes were age discriminatory. In response to the judgment the Government agreed to unravel these changes. Last year the Government announced its solution known as the McCloud Remedy. But what does this mean for pension trustees? Do these circumstances amount to grounds to set aside a financial remedy order?

The Family Court’s jurisdiction to set aside orders is provided under section 31F (6) of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (‘the 1984 Act’). In the Family Court to ‘set aside’ means ‘to rescind or vary a financial remedy order pursuant to section 31F (6) of the 1984 Act’.1 The procedure for these applications is set out in FPR 9.9A. There are extremely limited grounds which may be relied upon to set aside an order. These are contained in FPR PD9.9A para 13.5 and are as follows:

(a) Fraud (b) Material non-disclosure (c) Certain limited types of mistake (d) A subsequent event unforeseen and unforeseeable at the time the order was...

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