Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help mitigate the effect of pension taxation on the NHS.

I laid provided a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1587) on 4 June 2019 setting out the interim People Plan for the National Health Service. As part of this, it was announced that the Department would publish a consultation exploring proposals to introduce greater pension flexibility for clinicians in the NHS Pension Scheme. Increased flexibility is designed to address disincentives that may encourage senior clinicians to limit or reduce their workloads whilst participating in the NHS Pension Scheme.

The consultation will propose a 50:50 option which is intended to provide increased flexibility to clinicians regarding the growth of their NHS Pension Scheme benefits. This option will offer a 50% pension accrual and halved contributions. It was requested by the British Medical Association earlier this year, and they have welcomed this as a step in the right direction.

Retaining and maximising the contribution of our highly-skilled clinical workforce is crucial to the delivery of the ambitions for patient care set out in the Long Term Plan for the NHS. Accordingly, the Government is prepared to provide pension flexibility that appropriately balances the benefit of new flexibilities with their affordability to the public purse.

The consultation period will be an opportunity to listen to a range of views before reaching a final proposition that works for both staff and taxpayers. The Department encourages staff and employers to engage with our consultation when it opens this month.