Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 October 2021 to question 60443 on NHS: Pensions, what equalities impact assessment his Department has made on the potential effect of not equalising Survivor Pension Benefits rules for people who are unable to enter into new marriages or co-habit with a partner as a result of the pre-2008 NHS Survivor Pension rules without losing their entitlements on pensions for women and men who are seeking to re-marry or co-habit with a new partner.

Equality Impact Assessments are regularly performed to facilitate and evidence compliance with Government’s duties under the Equality Act 2010. However, such assessments are not a statutory requirement. The prospective improvements to survivor benefit terms were implemented in 2008 and so was not subject to this process at the time. Equality Impact Assessments are not usually produced where a policy remains unchanged as in this case.