Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for the civil service ill health retirement scheme.

Members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme are eligible for ill-health retirement benefits under the Scheme if the Scheme Medical Adviser is of the opinion that they have suffered a permanent breakdown in health involving incapacity for employment. The eligibility criteria was reviewed on the introduction of the Alpha scheme in 2015, and are consistent with those in other public service pension schemes.

The Cabinet Office regularly monitors ill-health retirement cases and currently 99.9% of quotes for ill health retirement are being issued within 10 days by the scheme administrator.