Pension Schemes Bill: New Clause 3

On 3 December 2025, Parliament voted on New Clause 3 to the Pension Schemes Bill, which would have required the Department for Work and Pensions to share SR1 forms (the standard end-of-life medical certificates) with the Pension Protection Fund and the Financial Assistance Scheme, so that terminally ill people would not need to resubmit proof of their diagnosis when claiming compensation. The clause would also have required payments to be made within a defined timeframe once eligibility was confirmed. The amendment was defeated by 299 votes to 87. The practical effect of the clause, had it passed, would have been to remove a layer of administrative repetition for people in the final months of their lives. As it stands, someone who has already had their terminal illness accepted by the DWP may still need to provide fresh documentation to the PPF or FAS separately. The Bill already extends the terminal illness definition in the PPF from six to twelve months life expectancy, but New Clause 3 went further by addressing the process through which eligibility is demonstrated, aiming to cut duplication and speed up payments. The vote divided sharply along party lines. All 294 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted opposed the clause. Support came from the Liberal Democrats, who provided 62 of the 87 Aye votes, with further backing from the SNP, Reform UK, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, the DUP, and two Conservatives. The Conservatives as a group had 114 members with no vote recorded. The government's opposition likely reflects its preference for the terminal illness provisions already in the Bill rather than adding this additional administrative requirement.