Lawrence Churchill appointed Chair of the Joint Negotiating Committee

The Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) has appointed Lawrence Churchill CBE as its new independent Chair.

Mr Churchill will replace Akbar Khan on 1 January 2025. Mr Khan has been appointed by the King as a Judge of the Upper Tribunal, which precludes him from holding any other remunerated office.

Among Mr Khan’s important contributions during this two-year term as Chair was supporting the completion of USS’s 2023 valuation in record time by facilitating constructive stakeholder discussions and securing key JNC decisions.

Mr Churchill is the current Chair of Clara Pensions and, among various other senior roles in the financial services sector, is a former Chair of the National Employment Savings Trust, Pensions Policy Institute, and Pension Protection Fund.

The JNC is made up of an equal number of Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and University and College Union (UCU) representatives. Its independent Chair, who has a casting vote, is appointed by the committee itself.

Mr Churchill was, accordingly, interviewed by representatives of both UCEA and UCU.

The committee has a distinct role in USS’s governance and has been a feature of the scheme since its creation. It has sole responsibility for deciding how any change in the overall contribution rate determined by the trustee should be addressed (i.e., through changes to benefits and/or how any change to the overall contribution rate is split between members and employers). It can also recommend changes to the Scheme Rules, and its consent is required for any rule changes proposed by the trustee.

Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited is the corporate trustee that runs and manages USS in line with the trust deed, scheme rules and legal duties. It has sole responsibility for scheme management and administration as well as investing the scheme’s underlying assets and securing the funding of the scheme as required by legislation and the Scheme Rules.