Congress motions

Motion

Motion title

Composites: USS Conditional Indexation

Session

2025-2026

Meeting link

HE Conference

Meeting date

28 May 2026

Status

Carried as amended

Motion

HE13

Motion text

Conference notes:
1. USS lost £1bn in the past year but reports a £multi-billion surplus based on gilts+ valuation; the 2026 valuation of USS is likely to report a surplus.
2. The reduction in USS benefits since 2011, including the closure of the final salary scheme and increase in normal pension age.
3. USS Limited and the Employers are promoting ‘Conditional Indexation’ as a future ‘reform’ of USS. The second Conditional Indexation (CI) report compares current DB scheme (rather than one improved by the surplus), and a hypothetical CI scheme, but fails to take proper account of political and regulatory pressures that could prevent indexation, and underestimates uncertainties involved in 30-year predictions.
4. ‘Indexation’ is the method of uprating your accrued pension. Currently USS is increased annually by a ‘soft cap’ formula based on CPI. Conditional indexation means uprating pension according to whatever USS actuaries say is affordable in a given year.
5. TPS employers see USS as a cheaper alternative – reducing the Employer Covenant makes USS even more attractive.

Conference believes:
a. Exploring CI was a response to the result of the 2020 valuation, itself a product of a poor valuation method.
b. Conditional Indexation transfers risks from employers to members, and reduces the Employer Covenant; and creates greater inequality between different categories of members.
c. Employers' interest in ‘stability’ (low risk to them, low contributions and no industrial action), is different from ours – stable, fair, well-indexed, guaranteed and sustainable DB pensions for us and for future generations of staff, fair contributions, and no employer attacks on pensions.

Conference resolves:
i. To continue to work with USS to improve valuation methodologies.
ii. That any surplus and lower FSC reported by the 2026 valuation should prioritise improving benefits
iii. Move to industrial action if USS or employers seek to impose CI

Proposing body

University of Oxford, University College London, London regional committee, Southern regional HE committee, Royal Holloway University of London

Amended

Yes

Allocated to

Higher education committee (HEC)

Notes