Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total cost to the Exchequer has been of the retire and return easements for NHS pensions since March 2020.

The easement which could potentially have an associated cost is the abatement of pensions, where the value of the pension plus earnings on returning to work does not exceed earnings before the pension was taken. The vast majority of staff are not subject to abatement after taking their pension, which applies to ‘special class’ staff with the right to take an unreduced pension at 55 years old, who return to work between the ages of 55 and 60 years old. In general, this staff group reduce their working hours or do not return to employment in order to avoid their pension being abated, therefore these easements increase the amount of work they are able to offer with little to no cost to the Exchequer.