Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effect of the increase in the rate of inflation on (a) NHS Scotland pensions and (b) the annual pension allowance limits.

The NHS pension scheme protects pensions in payment by increasing them by CPI and revalues accrued career average pension benefits by CPI+1.5% each year.

The Government is committed to ensuring that hard-working NHS staff do not find themselves reducing their work commitments due to the interaction between their pay, their pension, and the relevant tax regime. On 22 September, the Government announced it will change elements of the NHS Pension Scheme to help retain doctors, nurses and other senior NHS staff, to increase capacity. These changes include:

• Changing pension rules regarding inflation
• Encouraging NHS Trusts to explore local solutions for senior clinicians affected by pension tax charges, such as pension recycling
• Implementing permanent retirement flexibilities and extend existing temporary measures to allow our most experienced staff to return to service or stay in service longer.

It should be noted that NHS workforce planning in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government.