Request

This is a Freedom of Information request for the guidance and other information which you use in respect of the NHS Pension Schemes in connection with divorce proceedings for the implementation of Pension Sharing Orders following the enactment of The National Health Service Pension Schemes (Remediable Service) Regulations 2023.

In particular, I would be grateful if you could also provide any guidance used that specifies how a Pension Sharing Order should be implemented when information for divorce purposes was only provided prior to 1 October 2023, but when the Pension Sharing Order became effective on or after 1 October 2023.

I am an independent actuary providing advice to solicitors and their clients when it comes to divorce in England and Wales and I prepare actuarial reports for the Courts in that regard.

Response

NHS Business Services authority does hold the requested information but considered this information as exempt under section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The guidance is held in draft form only and will be published by the NHSBSA once it is finalised by the Scheme Actuary.

Under Section 22 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is scheduled to be published in the future. Section 22 is a qualified exemption and therefore, subject to a public interest test to consider whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption is greater than the public interest in disclosing the requested information.

• Factors for disclosure

• Public Accountability. • The need for public authorities to be transparent in their dealings.

• Factors for withholding

• The information is intended for future publication once finalised. • The information is currently in draft and therefore subject to change. • There is an inherent public interest in not disclosing information which could be misleading to the public and may not accurately reflect the final document. • There is an inherent public interest in allowing free ad frank discussion and formulation of guidance which could be negatively impacted by the disclosure of potentially misleading information which is subject to change. • To allow time and space for the guidance to be finalised by the Scheme Actuary.

• Reasons why public interest favours withholding information

• I consider that the advantage to releasing this information now (rather than upon the planned publication) is outweighed by the potential prejudice to the completeness and consistency of the data provided.

In addition, some of the requested information is already available in the public domain and therefore, under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.

Some of the information can be found in the consultation document McCloud remedy part 2: proposed changes to NHS Pension Schemes Regulations 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . This provides some details on the implementation of a PSO where the cash equivalent transfer value (the valuation) was issued before 1 October 2023, along with the directions of Regulation 26 to Regulation 29 of the NHS Pension Scheme ( Remediable Service) Regulations 2023

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

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01762