Request

1) how many NHS pension members who had already used 100% of their LTA prior to 6th April 2024, had a relevant benefit crystallisation event after 6th April 2024, (including second bite awards)

2) of those from (1), how many obtained a Transitional Tax-Free Amount Certificate (TTFAC), and how many did not.

3) of those from (2) who did not obtain a TTFAC, how many were subject to a tax charge when taking their benefits, and what was the total tax amount

4) how many NHS pension members who had already used 100% of their LTA prior to 6th April 2024; a) have unclaimed pension benefits b) are still accruing new NHS pension benefits

5) how many NHS pension members who had already used 83.3% of their LTA prior to 6th April 2024; a) have unclaimed pension benefits b) are still accruing new NHS pension benefits

6) how many NHS pension members still have their second bite award / application of inflation to their award delayed (please group by number of months delayed)

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 11 March 2025.

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

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested.

Please note:

Members can simultaneously have both unclaimed pension benefits and be accruing active benefits; in this scenario they are counted in both pots (for questions 4a and 4b, and 5a and 5b respectively)

Question 1 how many NHS pension members who had already used 100% of their LTA prior to 6th April 2024, had a relevant benefit crystallisation event after 6th April 2024, (including second bite awards)

336 members.

Question 2 - of those from (1), how many obtained a Transitional Tax-Free Amount Certificate (TTFAC), and how many did not.

Of the 336 members, 3 obtained a Transitional Tax-Free Amount Certificate (TTFAC), and 333 did not.

Question 3 - of those from (2) who did not obtain a TTFAC, how many were subject to a tax charge when taking their benefits, and what was the total tax amount

148 were subject to a tax charge when taking their benefits.

The total taxable amount was £1,510,480.97.

Question 4 - how many NHS pension members who had already used 100% of their LTA prior to 6th April 2024; a) have unclaimed pension benefits b) are still accruing new NHS pension benefits

1,143 members have unclaimed pension benefits

1,827 members are still accruing new NHS pension benefits

Question 5 - how many NHS pension members who had already used 83.3% of their LTA prior to 6th April 2024; a) have unclaimed pension benefits b) are still accruing new NHS pension benefits

1,759 members have unclaimed pension benefits

2,727 members are still accruing new NHS pension benefits

Question 6 - how many NHS pension members still have their second bite award / application of inflation to their award delayed (please group by number of months delayed)

1,707 members still have an outstanding second bite task.

Months Delayed

We have considered this part of your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and are issuing a refusal notice under section 17 of the FOIA.

The NHSBSA does hold the requested information; however, we estimate that the cost of compliance with the request would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12 of the FOIA. While we can identify members requiring work relating to an outstanding 2nd Bite PI task, determining how many months delayed the 2nd Bite PI is would require a manual interrogation of pension records.

We estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the non-central Government limit of £450. The limit has been specified in The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 and represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the NHSBSA holds the information, and locating, retrieving, extracting and checking the information.

Please see the following calculations which sets out the estimated cost for compliance with this request:

1,707 members still have an outstanding second bite task.

Each record would take approximately 5 to 10 minutes to search manually for the months delayed – this would equate to (5 x 1,707) / 60 = 142.25 hours’ worth of searching at a minimum.

Please be advised that due to the way that the information is held by the NHSBSA, it is not possible to submit a refined request under the appropriate limit.

Please see the following link to view the section 12 in full:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/12

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 2025” 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.