NHS Pension Scheme: Remediable Service Statements Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateKarin Smyth
Main Page: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)Department Debates - View all Karin Smyth's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(3 days, 14 hours ago)
Written StatementsIn 2014 and 2015, the previous Government reformed public service pension schemes with the intent to better balance the interests of public service workers, employers and taxpayers. When the reforms were introduced, they provided “transitional protections” which allowed members who were closer to retirement age to remain in the previous “legacy” schemes rather than move to the “reformed” schemes. In December 2018, the Court of Appeal found that these protections in the judicial and firefighters pension schemes gave rise to unlawful discrimination—the McCloud and Sargeant case. Member Class Number of Members RSS Extension Retired by 1-10-23—formerly unprotected and only legacy benefits in payment 5,012 1 July 2025 (three months) Retired by 1-10-23—formerly taper protected and only legacy benefits in payment 25,827 1 July 2025 (three months) Retired by 1-10-23—formerly unprotected and both legacy and reform benefits in payment 14,376 1 October 2025 (six months) Retired by 1-10-23—formerly taper protected and both legacy and reform benefits in payment 21,175 1 October 2025 (six months) Retired by 1-10-23—formerly protected and benefits in payment for remedy period 241,233 1 December 2026 (20 months) Retired between 1-10-23 and 1 July 2025 67,690 1 December 2026 (20 months) Active 561,572 1 September 2025 (five months) Deferred 144,076 1 September 2025 (five months)
Governing legislation—the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022— was enacted to remedy the discrimination identified by the courts. A core element of the remedy is providing affected members with a choice of pension benefits, legacy or reformed, for the period the discrimination had effect. Schemes must provide affected members with remediable service statements which set out how this choice will affect the value of their pension benefits. Members who have already retired must be provided with a remediable service statement to allow them to make their benefit choice retrospectively.
The governing legislation requires that a statement is provided to each affected member on or before 1 April 2025 or “by such later day as the scheme manager considers reasonable in all the circumstances in the case of a particular member or a particular class of member.” Today, I am updating the House on the delivery of remediable service statements for affected NHS pension scheme members.
The production of remediable service statements involves a complex and challenging programme of work. Technical complexities, some of which extend beyond the NHS pension scheme, have affected delivery timelines for statements.
The NHS Business Services Authority, as the scheme administrator of the NHS pension scheme, is prioritising the delivery of remediable service statements. However, in order to ensure that affected members receive robust statements that enable informed decision making I have agreed to a revised delivery plan for these statements with the authority, on which it is communicating with affected members. The revised delivery plan prioritises members based on their likelihood of facing financial detriment as a consequence of the discrimination. Government acknowledge that the revised timelines mean many members will receive their statement later than anticipated and that this will have an impact, especially on those retired members who will financially benefit from their choice.
As part of the revised delivery plan, Government will be holding the NHS Business Services Authority to account against extended deadlines for the delivery of remediable service statements. These extended deadlines are detailed in the table below:
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