The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)
On 1 July 2025, I issued a written statement on the implementation of the McCloud remedy for affected NHS pension scheme members. I informed the House that a number of deadlines by when the NHS Business Services Authority was required to provide remediable service statements to members would be missed. I explained that I was commissioning Lisa Tennant, independent chair of the NHS pension board, to lead a review of the capacity, capability and delivery plans of the NHS Business Services Authority’s McCloud remedy functions.
The review has now provided me with an interim report on the capability and capacity of the authority to enact the remedy and recommendations for its effective delivery. Key findings include that significant progress has been made in remedy delivery planning but that governance arrangements must be strengthened with enhanced assurance measures put in place, and detailed capacity planning and supplier arrangements need to be finalised. A final report will be published in line with the Government’s commitment to transparency.
Since my previous statement, the NHS Business Services Authority has been undertaking a significant replanning exercise for the delivery of the remedy. This exercise has now entered its final stage and the authority and my Department are implementing recommendations from the interim report. It is anticipated that the review will conclude its assurance of the revised delivery plan early in 2026. After this point, I will publish the final report and set new statutory deadlines by when the authority must provide remediable service statements, based on a complete and robust plan which has been independently assured and endorsed by the authority’s board.
The revised plan will continue to prioritise retired members who are likely to be facing financial detriment as a consequence of the discrimination identified by the McCloud judgment. RSS and remedial pension savings statements continue to be issued. The authority expects that their capacity to produce RSS will increase materially when software to automate a significant proportion of the calculations required comes online in spring 2026.
I want to reaffirm this Government’s commitment to delivering the remedy for public service pension scheme members affected by the discrimination caused by the coalition Government’s decision making. I will continue to keep this House informed of progress in the implementation of the remedy for the NHS pension scheme.
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