As part of our ongoing mission to secure the future for members of the railways pension schemes, the Trustee works together with the teams here at Railpen to advocate on your behalf.

And over the last two years, we’ve worked tirelessly to help secure a significant reduction in the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) Levy, a cost which is ultimately met by members and employers, with estimated savings of £13.7 million this year alone.

Here's what this means for you and your members.

£13.7 million saved on 2025 PPF Levy

All eligible defined benefit (DB) pension schemes in the UK pay into the PPF, including eligible Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) sections and the British Transport Police Force Superannuation Fund (BTPFSF). The payment, known as the PPF Levy, is essentially like an insurance policy, to protect member benefits in the event of employer insolvency. The levy for each scheme or section is calculated by the PPF.

Since the PPF was established in 2004, the relevant railways pension schemes have paid levies totalling around £625 million – equivalent to over £2,200 each current member. And today, the PPF has a significant funding surplus of around £13 billion. 

Given its strong financial position, for the last two years the Board of the PPF has expressed interest in moving to charging a zero levy. But legislative constraints meant this wasn’t possible.  

That’s why, at the direction of the Trustee, we’ve campaigned extensively to enable the PPF to reduce the levy to zero. We’ve worked closely with PPF officials as well as the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) and Department for Transport (DfT), while also taking part in select committees, PPF consultations, and cross-industry collaborative efforts.

This hard work has paid off

In January, the DWP announced that it will be taking forward proposals to give the PPF the necessary reassurance to implement future changes to the levy, giving it greater flexibility.

As a result, the PPF announced that levy payments for 2025 will be reduced by 55% (from £100m to £45m), and it will introduce a new provision in its levy rules to effectively give the ability to calculate a zero levy if the necessary legislative changes go ahead.

The initial reduction in this year’s levy to £45m alone works out at an estimated saving of over £13 million for the RPS and BTPFSF in 2025.

The work continues

While this is a great step forward, our work is by no means over!

Led by our Trustee, we’ll continue to engage with the DWP, PPF, DfT and our peers to influence both the shape of the legislative change and also the pace at which it takes place, to ensure the best outcome for the schemes and their members.