Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information:

1 - The number of GPs in the 2015 NHS Pension Scheme who have died before retirement and contributed to their pension on their last working day

2 - How many of those members received Death in Service benefits?

a) What was their average age and the age range?

b) How many were males and how many were females?

c) How many of the members had their contribution tier based on annualised earnings?

d) How many were GP locums?

e) What was the average death in service pay out for these members?

3 - How many of those members did not receive Death in Service benefits?

a) What was their average age and the age range?

b) How many were males and how many were females?

c) How many of the members had their contribution tier based on annualised earnings?

d) How many were GP locums?

e) What was the average number of calendar days between their death and their last working day when they contributed to their pension?

f) If they had been eligible for death in service benefits, what would the average pay have been for these members?

g) What was the average pay out these members / their families did receive?

You subsequently clarified that you are seeking data on:

• Members who were was contributing to the Scheme on the date of their death

• All dependent payments, e.g. lump sum on death, adult survivor, children’s pension

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your clarified request on 13 September 2024.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

Our response

Question 2 (c)

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHS Business Services Authority.

Annualising is the responsibility of an employer. NHS Pension records do not record annualised pay, or whether a member’s tier rate is based on annualised pay. Medical Practitioner members in the 2015 scheme are subject to annualising for the purposes of setting their contribution tier rate.

Unlike officer members who have a separate tier rate for each post, all practitioner income must be considered when determining the tier rate, which is then applied across all practitioner posts.

Annualising is only required where a Practitioner member does not have a full 365 days of practitioner membership in any scheme year. It is the GP themselves and the Employing Authority (EA) who are responsible for determining the correct tier rate. Primary Care Support England (PCSE) is the EA for GPs in England.

Question 3

Any member who dies while contributing to the NHS Pension Scheme is a ‘Death in Service’ and therefore the requested breakdown is not held.

A Death in Service payout is based on the sum of all Death Gratuity Lump Sums, and all dependant pensions implemented for partners or children. These initial pensions may be inflated initially and may not reflect the annual pension in payment today. They also do not factor in Pensions Increase (PI) which may have been applied in the years following death.

As part of the ongoing work for the Public Service Pensions Remedy, sometimes known as McCloud, affected members have had their 2015 service ‘rolled back’ into the legacy scheme. This means members may have initially been in the 2015 scheme and had death in service benefits paid, but are now considered to have been in the 1995/2008 scheme at the point of death, taking them out of scope for this request.

Remaining questions

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested and a copy of the information is below. All data is correct as of 1 October 2024.

Question 1

64 GPs in the 2015 scheme died before retirement. I can confirm that pay from their final working day contributed to their pension.

Question 2

All 64 of those GPs received Death in Service Benefits.

a) The age at death ranged from 32 to 65, with the average age being 47.

b) 29 were male, while 35 were female.

d) 0 were GP Locums at the time they died.

e) The average death in service pay out, including all initial dependant pensions and death gratuity lump sums, is £316,570.87.

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2024” Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.