Employers ask for detail on pension plan

NHS Employers has called on the Department of Health and Social Care to give greater detail on new funding that aims to cover the increased cost of changes to the NHS Pension Scheme.

In December, the Department opened a consultation on changing the pension scheme regulations. The revisions include a new 20.6% employer contribution rate from 1 April (currently 14.3% plus a 0.08% administration charge). The amendments would also include a confirmation that civil partners and same sex spouses will have the same survivor pension rights as widows.

The current tiered contribution rates of between 5% and 14.5% – calculated according to whole-time equivalent pensionable pay – for scheme members (employees) will remain in place until the completion of a review by the scheme’s advisory board.

The consultation closed in January. In its response, NHS Employers welcomed a decision by chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured) to provide £1.25bn a year to cover the higher employer pension contributions, but asked for details of how the money will be distributed. It called for written clarification that the extra funds will cover in full the increased cost of employer pension contributions. It also asked if all pension scheme employers – including non-NHS providers of healthcare and wholly-owned subsidiaries – will be eligible to receive the funding.


Photograph obtained from the UK Parliament website under the creative commons licence