HM Treasury has published its response to its consultation on placing a restriction on public sector exit payments. The Government has decided to go ahead with its original core proposals by taking powers in primary legislation as part of the Enterprise Bill, with the detail of the measures being implemented through The Public Sector Exit Payment Regulations 2016 (published in draft). The core measures are set out on Pages 5 and 6 of the response and in summary are as follows:

• Apply a £95,000 cap on the total value of exit payments made to employees in the public sector.
• Apply the cap to all types of arrangements and forms of exit payment, including cash lump sums, early access to an unreduced pension, payments in lieu of notice and non-financial and other benefits.
• Establish a waiver process for exceptional circumstances.
• Apply the policy to all public sector bodies, with a small number of bodies granted an exemption from the policy.

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