Request

I would like to make a FOI request for the following:

Members who have transitioned from the 1995 Section to the 2015 Scheme and are purchasing or have purchased added years/additional pension should be afforded the opportunity to claim the benefits arising from this purchase at the point the agreed end date is reached. NHS Pensions should be writing to those members who have reached the selected end age six months before the selected end age.

Please advise how many such added years/added pension choice letters sent to the following group of members between 1st April 2022 and 12th November 2023. - Consultant members (Specialist) - General practitioners

Response

The exercise to contact active members of the 1995 section with information about claiming their added years or additional pension benefits separately from their main scheme benefits will begin to be rolled out from January 2024.

To date, we have received one request from a member for an estimate.

The exercise will apply to members who moved into the 2015 Scheme but had a contract for additional benefits with an earlier payable date. Members will be able to claim their additional benefits when they become due without claiming their main scheme pension benefits.

Members who choose to take their additional benefits will be able to continue to contribute to the Scheme and build further pension benefits. Their decision won’t affect their main scheme pension benefits.

Members who are interested in claiming their additional benefits now, will need to complete and return the form provided to them to request an estimate. Once they return that form, an estimate and a claim form will be provided.

Members who don’t want to claim their additional benefits now won’t need to do anything. They will be paid automatically when they claim their NHS Pension.

Please note that this request and our response is published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01543