The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in the UK has agreed a proposed deal with ITV over the long-running Box Clever pension scheme case, with all members of the Box Clever pension scheme expected to receive their pension benefits in full.

The agreement in principle will see all of the 2,800 members transferred to the ITV Pension Scheme, with those members who have been receiving benefits at Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levels since 2014 set to receive full scheme benefits and back payments.

Assuming the transfer goes ahead as planned, TPR has also agreed to cease its regulatory action against ITV and associated entities.

TPR interim executive director of regulatory compliance, Mel Charles, highlighted the news as demonstration of how TPR will use its powers to protect savers and "robustly pursue matters, through the courts if necessary, to reach a satisfactory resolution".

“Following this long-running case, we are glad that there is an expected settlement under which ITV will accept the Box Clever pension scheme members into the ITV scheme," he added.

The agreement was also supported by both the trustees of the Box Clever scheme and the PPF.

Box Clever was initially formed in 2000 as a joint venture between the TV rental businesses of Granada, now ITV, and Thorn, now Carmelite, with respective employees transferred to the new company and enrolled in the Box Clever pension scheme.

Following the scheme’s collapse in 2011, however, TPR opened an anti-avoidance investigation, after it found that ITV had extracted “significant value from the joint venture” prior to the collapse.

In March 2020, following a "lengthy legal battle", ITV lost a legal challenge against TPR over the regulator’s use of anti-avoidance powers and was given a six-month deadline to put financial support in place for the Box Clever scheme.

ITV submitted an initial offer of £31m to TPR in August 2020 to reach a settlement, then increased its provision to £52m.

However, when an agreement could not be reached, TPR issued further proceedings seeking a Contribution Notice for the scheme’s full buyout deficit, which was most recently estimated as around £76m.

This article was first published on our sister website, Pensions Age.

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