Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of reclassifying the NHS ambulance service as an emergency service on (a) retirement age, (b) pension entitlements and (c) other areas.

National Health Service ambulance staff are entitled to NHS Pension Scheme membership. There are no plans to reclassify these staff as being entitled to Police or Firefighter’s Pension Scheme membership, or to a separate scheme with similar terms. This reclassification would significantly increase the pension contribution costs of these staff.

NHS Pension Scheme members, including those in the ambulance service, do not have to work to the scheme’s normal pension age (NPA) to claim their retirement benefits. Flexible retirement options enable members to choose when to claim their benefits. Voluntary Early Retirement allows staff to fully retire up to ten years earlier than the NPA with an actuarially reduced pension due to the pension being in payment for longer. Alternatively, partial retirement allows members to draw down some or all of their pension while continuing to work and build up further pension benefits. Even when taken years before normal pension age, NHS Pension Scheme entitlements give exceptional value to staff and can provide for a comfortable living in retirement.