Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the additional costs to the NHS of the introduction of the single state pension in April 2016, which will remove the national insurance rebate currently received by NHS employers offering final salary schemes.

The Spending Review has announced that National Health Service funding will rise by £3.8 billion in real terms in 2016-17 and by £8 billion in real terms by 2020-21, compared to 2015-16. It is estimated that changes to the state pension, from April 2016, will cost the NHS £1.1 billion.

This funding will enable the NHS to meet a range of cost pressures, including increased costs for NHS employers of the introduction of the single state pension.