16.6.1 TUPE is a UK wide statutory instrument which applies in Northern Ireland in the same way as it does in the rest of the United Kingdom.
16.6.1.1 The OFMDFM document entitled "Policy Framework for Public Private Partnerships in Northern Ireland" ("Policy Framework NI") states at Appendix C that PPPs will require the private sector to have full union recognition and collective bargaining. [http://www.ppp-ni.gov.uk/press-release-body.pdt].
Appendix C also states that government policy is to protect staff terms and conditions through TUPE on transfer to the private sector and in second round and subsequent transfers unless there are genuinely exceptional reasons not to.
16.6.1.2 In relation to pensions, Appendix C of the Policy Framework N I states that the policy will be to protect staff pensions by following GB policy on pensions, requiring transferred employees to have pensions at least as good overall as available from the public sector employer. Appendix C refers to "PPPs - A Fair Deal for Staff". This is a reference to the 1999 HM Treasury policy document "A Fair Deal for Staff Pensions" which was incorporated, in 2000, as an annex to the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice "Staff Transfers in the Public Sector". In June 2004 HM Treasury issued further guidance, "Fair Deal for Staff Pensions: Procurement of Bulk Transfer Agreements and Related Issues", to reinforce the existing guidance. [ www.cabinet-office.gov.uk and www.hm-treasury.gov.uk ]