Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

‘I understand that the NHS pension scheme currently pays out approximately £16bn to around 1.1m retired members for an average pension of £14,545.

Could you please provide a breakdown of these figures by which scheme the payments are being made under? Ideally I would like to know what proportion of the £16bn total is being paid out as benefits accrued under the 1995 scheme vs 2008 scheme vs 2015 scheme. Figures for the last complete financial year should be sufficient.’

[On 7 April 2025 we sent you the following clarification request]

The figures you have provided in your request are not entirely accurate. The figure of £16bn is everything paid out by NHS Pensions and is not the payment of ongoing benefits. The figure for ongoing benefits is £12.764bn, however, this also includes some other payments made on behalf of members.

Also, the figure provided for the average pension, £14,545, is also not accurate. We can provide the average pension and widows pension value. This would be at the end of the financial year, which will give a more accurate figure. Can you please confirm if you would like us to provide this?

Would you like us to provide a breakdown of the £16bn paid out by NHS Pensions? Or would you like us to provide a breakdown of how much is paid to retired members specifically?

[On 15 April 2025 you clarified your request as follows]

‘To clarify, I am interested in the breakdown of payments being made to retired members specifically (i.e. the £12.764bn).

I would like to know what value is being paid out as benefits accrued under the 1995 scheme vs 2008 scheme vs 2015 scheme, and how many scheme years in payment there are for each - for example someone who started working for the NHS in 1995 might have accrued 13 years under that scheme, then 7 years under 2008, then 9 years under 2015 before retiring last year. This would then be reflected in the data as 13, 7 and 9 years respectively with a value being paid out for each - only I am obviously interested in the total for all retired members.’

[On 24 April 2025 we sent you the following clarification request]

We are unable to provide the information split down to scheme years in each pension scheme as you have requested.

We could provide the total number of pensioners in the 1995 section of the NHS Pension Scheme, 2008 section of the NHS Pension Scheme and 2015 Pension Scheme, with a total payment amount for each for the 2023/24 financial year.

For example:

xxxx number of pensioners in payment in 1995 section of the NHS Pension Scheme totalling £xxxx

xxxx number of pensioners in payment in 2008 section of the NHS Pension Scheme totalling £xxxx

xxxx number of pensioners in payment in 2015 Pension Scheme totalling £xxxx

Can you please confirm if you would like us to provide the data as recommended above?

[On 24 April 2025 you clarified your request as follows]

In that case yes the breakdown by scheme year you describe would be satisfactory.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 29 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 read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

Accrued reckonable service, by Scheme or as a total, is not held. It is calculated on a case by case basis for individual members as needed.

Financial figures and member volumes relate to pensioners and dependants paid in the 2023/24 year and include accrued consumer price index (CPI) on the original pension. These members may no longer be in receipt of benefits, if their pension has ceased.

Members can be counted in multiple groups, as they can be in receipt of benefits from multiple Schemes.

Data

1,172,546 pensioners in payment in 1995 section of the NHS Pension Scheme totalling £11,870,000,000.

73,266 pensioners in payment in 2008 section of the NHS Pension Scheme totalling £328,000,000.

97,263 pensioners in payment in 2015 Pension Scheme totalling £229,000,000.

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.