Telent, the rump of the former Marconi telecoms group owned by Pension Corporation, has unveiled plans to shut its £2.5 billion final salary pension scheme to existing members as part of an effort to keep the lid on costs.

Telent, whose acquisition two years ago by Edi Truell’s buyout firm sparked huge controversy over the certainty of payments to the company’s pensioners, today joined the growing list of UK companies to effectively put their schemes into wind-up.

Barclays, Wm Morrison, ITV and Trinity Mirror have all unveiled plans in recent months to shut their pension funds to existing as well as future staff as ballooning deficits and the longer lives of members after retirement make them increasingly unaffordable.

Telent’s scheme has about 56,000 members, of whom about 35,000 currently draw a pension.

Telent supplies network and communications services including to BT and the Metropolitan Police in the UK. It was the sole part of the former Marconi empire to emerge intact following its collapse in 2003.

About 1,300 Telent staff will be affected by today’s move. The company said that it was beginning a consultation with employees over a new, defined contribution scheme that would come into effect for employees next April.

As it published details of the plan to wind up the scheme, which as at the end of March was not facing a shortfall, Telent and Pension Corporation said that they had agreed a 15-year funding plan aimed at shoring up the scheme’s strength.

Under the plan, Telent will inject at least £4 million a year into the scheme, which will also be able to draw from a £500 million escrow account.

Pension Corporation, which is the 100 per cent owner of Telent, has also agreed not to take dividend payments from Telent until 2013 at the earliest.

It is understood the plan, which will enable Telent to expand commercially, has been approved by The Pensions Regulator.

When Pension Corporation launched its bid for Telent in late 2007, it was accused of trying to find ways of raiding the escrow account. The regulator initially demanded that independent trustees be brought in to ensure that scheme members’ rights were protected.

Mr Truell, who does not sit on the Telent board, said that the newly agreed funding for the scheme would provide huge additional certainty over pension payments. “This draws a line under pension costs, providing increased comfort for the members of the Telent scheme, while enabling the company to expand in future,” he said.

The plan aims to ensure that Telent’s pension fund is able to meet all of its pension liabilities by 2023. It may then explore offloading to the scheme risks to a third-party insurer, with Pension Corporation likely to pitch for the business.

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