Thank you for your request for information as outlined below:

I am submitting the following request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please answer the following questions below.

1. Please disclose the number of AW8 forms the NHS Business Services Authority has received in the last 36 months, up to and including February 2023 (i.e., January, February, March, April and so on). This data should go back to February 2020 and include the latest figures available when the request is processed. If this processing takes too long – or exceeds the time or cost limit of this FOI – then please limit this to 24 months. If 24 months is too long, please limit this to 12 months.

2. Of these AW8 form submissions, please disclose the reason(s) that NHS pension scheme members have selected for it. These should include, but not be limited to, the following:

-Age

-Actuarially reduced voluntary early retirement

-Commuted ill-health

-Ill-health

-Interest of efficiency

-Redundancy

If there are other additional reasons that NHS pension scheme members can select, please include them here; and

1. Please disclose figures on occupation. I understand the NHSBSA does not hold data by pay band. However, the AW8 form does ask members about their profession. However this is recorded, please disaggregate these figures by whichever categories they are held by. Do let me know if you require any further information.

Your request was received on 2 February 2023, and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response

Please note that the data and below response relates to the number of AW8 forms submitted during the timeframes requested.

This data is for AW8s only and does not include AW8Ps. The numbers do not equate to the number of members who took their pension benefits (retired). This is because some AW8s may have been rejected, withdrawn or found to be ‘not in good order’ and are still awaiting completion.

Question 1

Note that your request was received on 2 February and as this month had not yet ended at the time this response was created this means that we do not hold a figure for the full month of February 2023. The figures provided are correct as of 23 February 2023.

Question 2

As above, this data is correct to the 23 February 2023.

A copy of the information is attached. Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

Row 1 is the reason given for retirement and below each you will find the number of AW8s submitted:

• Age – retiring at normal pension age.

• Agreed VER / Early Retirement (IOE) - all retirements in this category will be Early Retirement (Interest of Efficiency) because there is no longer a retirement reason for agreed VER.

• Benefit Statement – please note that as this is not a valid category, data under this category is incorrect and should be ignored.

• Commuted incapacity - is commuted ill health.

• Compensation - equates to redundancy.

• Drawdown1 and Drawdown2 - Drawdowns are explained in the following factsheet: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2017-03/Draw%20Down%20Applications%20Factsheet%20V7%2012.2015.pdf Benefits can be drawn down on two separate occasions, which equates to drawdown1 and drawdown2.

• Incapacity - equates to ill health retirement claims.

• Voluntary early retirement – this is actuarially reduced voluntary early retirement, so it is different from Agreed VER (which was employer funded rather than actuarially reduced).

Question 3

As above, this data is correct to the 23 February 2023.

The data has been categorised differently as follows:

3a – Breakdown by Job Title

Column 1 is taken from information provided by the employer on the AW8 form, where they state in what capacity the member is employed. Please note that the data quality in this spreadsheet is a reflection of the raw free-text data entered by the employer. Blank rows indicate that the employer entered at least one space, as opposed to text. For the category “Null” indicates that the employer did not enter the occupation of the colleague.

3b – Breakdown by Member Type

This is a higher-level categorisation, which may be a more reliable breakdown of role type. The date separates clinical staff and non-clinical. Non-clinical roles are captured under ’officer’.

The data provided in this FOI response counts all members who have submitted an AW8 form to the NHSBSA since February 2020 and includes both clinicians and non-clinicians.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact nhsbsa.foirequests@nhs.net ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact nhsbsa.communicationsteam@nhs.net. 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 2023” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

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

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.