The next valuation of UK higher education’s biggest pension scheme could come sooner than expected following improvements in the fund’s financial position.
The latest monthly monitoring report produced by the Universities Superannuation Scheme, which covers the period up to the end of March, estimates the fund’s deficit to be £1.6 billion, down from £14.1 billion the same time a year earlier. The scheme’s assets are believed to have increased by £22.3 billion over the course of a year.
The size of the deficit – and how to close it – has been at the heart of a long-running industrial dispute, with staff at 19 universities currently participating in a marking boycott. USS pension benefits were cut last month as vice-chancellors battled to stop combined employer and staff contributions soaring above the current level of 31.4 per cent.
