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1172020

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2020
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to devolve increased employer pension contributions to local clinical commissioning groups.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	5429
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/01/2020 answer text <p>We intend in due course to devolve funding for the increased employer contribution rate in the NHS Pension Scheme although a date has not yet been set. For 2019/20, the Department, NHS England and NHS Improvement and the NHS Business Services Authority agreed a transitional arrangement to distribute the pensions revaluation funding following an increase to the employer contribution rate from 14.38% (inclusive of the 0.08% administration levy) to 20.68% from 1 April 2019.</p><p>The employer contribution cost arrangements for 2020/21 will be confirmed in the 2020/21 Operational Planning Guidance document which will be released towards the end of January 2020.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 23/01/2020 12:10:14 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1168445

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of pension legislation on trends in the level of staffing in the NHS.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Mr Stephen Morgan
	uin	206
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>The Department recognises that the annual allowance may contribute to decisions from National Health Service consultants to retire early or limit their NHS commitments. We are also listening carefully to concerns raised by senior doctors and NHS employers about the tapered annual allowance.</p><p>The Department has consulted on introducing flexibility within the NHS Pension Scheme from 2019/20 to allow clinicians affected by annual allowance tax charges to reduce their pension accrual in deciles in order to manage any potential annual allowance tax charges.</p><p>In September 2019 guidance was issued by NHS Employers informing employers of the short-term approaches that they could take to mitigate the effect of pension tax on their workforce this tax year. The NHS has also implemented an immediate measure to preserve clinical capacity amid the increased pressure on services during the winter period. This will compensate NHS clinicians for the effect on their pensions of annual allowance charges incurred in 2019-20.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 208 209 question first answered 07/01/2020 14:50:01 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1168447

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of pension legislation on the allocation of work to NHS staff.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Mr Stephen Morgan
	uin	208
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>The Department recognises that the annual allowance may contribute to decisions from National Health Service consultants to retire early or limit their NHS commitments. We are also listening carefully to concerns raised by senior doctors and NHS employers about the tapered annual allowance.</p><p>The Department has consulted on introducing flexibility within the NHS Pension Scheme from 2019/20 to allow clinicians affected by annual allowance tax charges to reduce their pension accrual in deciles in order to manage any potential annual allowance tax charges.</p><p>In September 2019 guidance was issued by NHS Employers informing employers of the short-term approaches that they could take to mitigate the effect of pension tax on their workforce this tax year. The NHS has also implemented an immediate measure to preserve clinical capacity amid the increased pressure on services during the winter period. This will compensate NHS clinicians for the effect on their pensions of annual allowance charges incurred in 2019-20.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 206 209 question first answered 07/01/2020 14:50:01 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1168448

	registered interest
	date	19/12/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of pension legislation on the ability of NHS staff to clear waiting lists.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Mr Stephen Morgan
	uin	209
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>The Department recognises that the annual allowance may contribute to decisions from National Health Service consultants to retire early or limit their NHS commitments. We are also listening carefully to concerns raised by senior doctors and NHS employers about the tapered annual allowance.</p><p>The Department has consulted on introducing flexibility within the NHS Pension Scheme from 2019/20 to allow clinicians affected by annual allowance tax charges to reduce their pension accrual in deciles in order to manage any potential annual allowance tax charges.</p><p>In September 2019 guidance was issued by NHS Employers informing employers of the short-term approaches that they could take to mitigate the effect of pension tax on their workforce this tax year. The NHS has also implemented an immediate measure to preserve clinical capacity amid the increased pressure on services during the winter period. This will compensate NHS clinicians for the effect on their pensions of annual allowance charges incurred in 2019-20.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar grouped question UIN 206 208 question first answered 07/01/2020 14:50:01 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1171633

	registered interest
	date	17/01/2020
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the effect of the NHS pension scheme on staffing in the (a) NHS and (b) primary care sector.
	tabling member constituency	Gower
	tabling member printed	Tonia Antoniazzi
	uin	4775
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2020 answer text <p>The Department recognises that the annual allowance may contribute to decisions from National Health Service consultants to retire early or limit their NHS commitments, although a precise estimate of the change in staffing levels as a result of pension tax is not available. The Government is listening carefully to concerns raised by senior doctors and NHS employers about the tapered annual allowance.</p><p>In September 2019 guidance was issued by NHS Employers informing employers of the short-term approaches that they could take to mitigate the effect of pension tax on their workforce this tax year. The NHS has also implemented an immediate measure to preserve clinical capacity amid the increased pressure on services during the winter period. This will compensate NHS clinicians for the effect on their pensions of annual allowance charges incurred in 2019-20.</p><p>The Department has consulted on introducing flexibility within the NHS Pension Scheme from 2019/20 to allow clinicians affected by annual allowance tax charges to reduce their pension accrual in deciles in order to manage any potential annual allowance tax charges.</p><p>As part of a wider drive to ensure the NHS has the staff it needs to meet demand and transform care, the Government is carrying out an urgent review of the pensions annual allowance taper problem that has caused some doctors to turn down extra shifts for fear of high tax bills. On 13 January, Ministers held a roundtable with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the British Medical Association and other representative organisations as part of this review to find a long-term solution.</p><p>The review will consider the findings from the Department’s consultation on pension flexibility and will report at the Budget on 11 March.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 22/01/2020 14:28:57 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4623 label Biography information for Tonia Antoniazzi

1174889

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2020
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many former NHS employees are in receipt of reduced pension entitlement as a result of deciding to end their careers working on a part-time basis.
	tabling member constituency	Romsey and Southampton North
	tabling member printed	Caroline Nokes
	uin	10368
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2020 answer text <p>The following table shows the number of pensioner members of the NHS Pension Scheme who retired whilst working part-time, the number of members who worked part-time throughout their career, and the number of members who moved to part-time hours during the final five years prior to retirement.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>Pensioner members who worked part-time on their last day of service</p></td><td><p>Pensioner members who worked part-time hours throughout their career</p></td><td><p>Pensioner members who were whole-time and only went part-time in final five years prior to last day of service</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number of members</p></td><td><p>365,851</p></td><td><p>183,511</p></td><td><p>42,239</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Note: Approximately 40,000 pensioner members had pensions put into payment before the NHS Business Services Authority modernised their administration systems, so their former working pattern is unknown.</p><p>All members of the final salary section of the 1995/2008 NHS pension scheme have their pension calculated using their full-time equivalent pay. A decision to work part-time hours means that the length of pensionable service built up is proportionately less compared to a full-time member. However it does not affect their final pensionable pay providing their whole-time equivalent pay figure remains the same. Members of the 2015 NHS Pension Scheme build up pensions using a Career Average Revalued Earnings method. This means that their pension is based on the actual pay earned in each year. A decision to work part-time does not affect the value of the pension accrued in earlier years.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 07/02/2020 11:17:42 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes

1362165

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2021
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 9 December 2020 to Question 120078, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making funds available to equalise Survivor Pension Benefits for people who are unable to enter into new marriages or co-habit with a partner as a result of the pre-2008 NHS Survivor Pension rules.
	tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
	tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
	uin	60443
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2021 answer text <p>The NHS Pension Scheme does not provide for the automatic retention of a survivor pension on re-marriage or co-habitation where the Scheme member ceased pensionable employment before 1 April 2008. Arrangements are in place for continuing or restoring a pension if, for example, withdrawal would create severe financial hardship for the recipient.</p><p>Following a review by NHS Pension Scheme stakeholders, changes were made to survivor benefits for Scheme members with service extended to or beyond 1 April 2008, where a survivor pension became payable for life regardless of whether the recipient remarries, forms a civil partnership or lives with someone else as a spouse or partner. The Government’s position remains that benefit entitlements should normally be determined based on the rules applicable at the time the member served, to maintain fairness for active scheme members and the taxpayer.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 26/10/2021 14:19:56 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1380933

	registered interest
	date	22/11/2021
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 October 2021 to question 60443 on NHS: Pensions, what equalities impact assessment his Department has made on the potential effect of not equalising Survivor Pension Benefits rules for people who are unable to enter into new marriages or co-habit with a partner as a result of the pre-2008 NHS Survivor Pension rules without losing their entitlements on pensions for women and men who are seeking to re-marry or co-habit with a new partner.
	tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
	tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
	uin	79414
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2021 answer text <p>Equality Impact Assessments are regularly performed to facilitate and evidence compliance with Government’s duties under the Equality Act 2010. However, such assessments are not a statutory requirement. The prospective improvements to survivor benefit terms were implemented in 2008 and so was not subject to this process at the time. Equality Impact Assessments are not usually produced where a policy remains unchanged as in this case.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 25/11/2021 10:26:23 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1399863

	registered interest
	date	05/01/2022
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the temporary suspension under the Coronavirus Act 2020 of the regulations governing the administration of NHS pensions, including the 16 hour rule.
	tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
	tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
	uin	98257
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2022 answer text <p>Pension abatement in the National Health Service applies to nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and mental health officers with a retained legacy right to retire at 55 years old without a reduction in their pension. Between the ages of 55 years old and 60 years old, these pensions plus earnings in NHS employment cannot exceed NHS earnings before retirement. The abatement recognises that this a significant benefit not available to other staff in the NHS, including many nurses. Other staff are not subject to abatement after taking their pension.</p><p>The Coronavirus Act 2020 suspended the rule to enable this group of staff to increase their work for the NHS should they wish. It is due to expire on 25 March with other provisions, including the 16 hour rule. These staff can continue working for the NHS, typically at least half time. The 16 hour rule limits the amount of NHS work that can be done in the first month after returning from retirement, with no restriction thereafter. However, the Department will keep this under review.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 10/01/2022 10:13:42 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards

1399865

	registered interest
	date	05/01/2022
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent representations he has received from the Welsh Government on extending the temporary suspension under the Coronavirus Act 2020 of the regulations governing the administration of NHS pensions, including the 16 hour rule.
	tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
	tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
	uin	98258
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2022 answer text <p>While we have not received any formal representations from the Welsh Government we continue to have a regular discussions on a range of matters relating to the NHS Pension Scheme.</p><p>The measures were designed to support the National Health Service in responding to the pandemic. Pension abatement in the NHS applies to nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and mental health officers with a retained legacy right to retire at 55 years old without a reduction in their pension. Between the ages of 55 and 60 years old, their pension plus earnings in NHS employment cannot exceed their NHS earnings before retirement. The abatement recognises that they have a significant benefit not available to other staff in the NHS including many nurses. Other staff are not subject to abatement after taking their pension.</p><p>This rule was suspended as part of the Coronavirus Act 2020 to enable this group of staff to increase their work for the NHS should they wish. It is due to expire on 25 March 2022 with the other provisions of the Act, including the 16 hour rule. These staff will still be able to continue working for the NHS, typically at least half time. The 16 hour rule limits the amount of NHS work that can be done in the first month after returning from retirement, with no restriction thereafter. However, the Department will keep this under review.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 11/01/2022 12:43:21 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards