Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce (a) transitional protection and (b) retrospective corrective measures for NHS staff who took partial retirement before formal guidance on its impact on redundancy entitlement was issued.

There are no plans to introduce transitional protections or retrospective corrective measures for National Health Service staff who took partial retirement before formal guidance on the impact of redundancy entitlement was issued.

Contractual redundancy provisions for staff covered by the NHS terms and conditions of service handbook, also referred to as Agenda for Change, in England were agreed and ratified in partnership by the NHS Staff Council, the collective bargaining structure made up of trade union and employer representatives.

Any future changes to the handbook, including this section, would require the department to issue a mandate to allow negotiations to be undertaken by the NHS Staff Council.