More than 100 professionals from across the sector attended the Government Actuary’s Department’s (GAD) first public service pensions conference on Thursday 19 June 2025. The event brought together representatives from the pension schemes for all 8 public service workforces, across all 4 nations.
Reflect and Connect
The theme of the conference was ‘Reflect and Connect’. Opening the event, the Government Actuary highlighted a key objective for the day was providing an opportunity for those working in public service schemes to meet others doing similar work, encourage knowledge sharing and greater collaboration.
The conference included a keynote address from Siobhan Amutharasan (HM Treasury) and Jan Claisse (GAD) and inspiring plenaries on pensions dashboards and pension board governance.
Delegates also attended discussions on a wide range of topics including the McCloud remedy, AI opportunities and the gender pensions gap. The Office for Budget Responsibility, The Pensions Ombudsman and The Pensions Regulator also provided engaging and thought-provoking sessions.
Energising and interesting
Greg Ceely from the Office for National Statistics presented a session on Healthy Life Expectancy and the State Pension age review. Commenting on the event, he said “It’s been very energising and interesting to find out how various pension elements fit together. It has been refreshing to know that people are thinking about pensions in a multifaceted way.”
Claire Neale, the Head of Police Pensions from the National Police Chiefs Council noted “It’s been a fabulous networking opportunity, and a real pleasure to connect with new people.”
Clair Alcock, Head of Pensions at the Local Government Association remarked “It was brilliantly put together and all the topics were really relevant.”
Phil Bassingham-Searle, the Head of Armed Forces remuneration at the Ministry of Defence also noted “It has been thought provoking and has brought together a group of people who don’t normally come together, who’ve got shared interests.”
It was an inspiring and energising day that captured the spirit of collaboration and shared purpose at the heart of public service pensions. #ReflectAndConnect
