To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of decoupling the age at which an individual can claim their NHS Pension from the State Pension Age.
Answered on
23 April 2024
The NHS Pension Scheme is generous, and provides good pensions for retirement. A new reformed scheme was introduced in 2015, to ensure the costs are sustainable for the future. The reforms included linking scheme retirement age to an individual’s state pension age, in response to people living healthier, longer lives.
Individuals can claim their National Health Service pension earlier than their state pension age, although their benefits will be reduced in value, to account for the fact that they are being paid for longer. This reduction is waived when the scheme accepts a claim for early retirement on ill-health grounds. Where an NHS pension is claimed after state pension age, the reverse applies, and the value of benefits will be increased. The scheme also offers a partial retirement option, which allows staff to draw down all or part of their pension, and continue working in a more flexible way.