The Public Service Pensions Remedy is sometimes referred to as the 'McCloud judgement'.
In 2015, the government made changes to most public service pension schemes including the NHS Pension Scheme.
The reforms did not apply to members within 10 years of their normal pension age (NPA) on the 31 March 2012 who remained in their legacy schemes with 'transitional protection'.
The Court of Appeal later found this to be discriminatory against younger members.
The government is removing this age discrimination from public service pension schemes in 2 parts.
The first part was completed in 2022 with all active members from 1 April 2022 now being members of the 2015 Scheme. This provides equal treatment for all active pension Scheme members.
If you were a member of the 1995 or 2008 Scheme, you kept any service you earned up until 1 April 2022. You can access these benefits in the same way and at the same time as you can now.
Any pension benefits you earned after the 1 April 2022 will be in the reformed NHS Pension Scheme.
The second part is to put right, or 'remedy,’ the discrimination which could have taken place between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. This is known as the remedy period.
Read more information about the changes to public service pensions on our website.
Who does this impact
Read which members are affected by the changes.
If you’re receiving a spouse or dependants pension for a member who joined a public service pension scheme on or before 31 March 2012 and who was still a member on 1 April 2015, you may also be asked to make a choice.
If an eligible member has died since 1 April 2015, we'll review these cases as a priority.
If there are children in receipt of a survivor pension and the decision maker lives in a separate household to the child, any decision taken will not affect the child’s pension.
If the child and decision maker live in the same household, the usual rules around total survivor benefits payable will apply.
We’ll be reviewing affected dependant benefits as a priority. If you’re affected, we’ll write to you to provide you with more information to help you understand what you need to do.
Tax
Most eligible members will see no change to their tax position over the remedy period.
As pension accrues at a lower rate in the legacy scheme, it's less likely you’ll incur higher annual allowance (AA) charges because of this period of service being placed into the legacy scheme.
You may have to pay new or higher AA charges if your projected pension at retirement has increased.
The government has stated for some members the pension changes will cause their tax position to change. This could result in tax charges for you or you becoming entitled to a reimbursement of tax previously paid.
You may also face changes in your contributions which may also affect your income tax position.
If you've already retired, your total pension income may also change and tax will be payable on any increase in pension.
Read more information on the GOV.UK website.
Scheme pays
It's not possible for us to process scheme pays applications at this time for charges you may incur in future.
The government is currently considering how scheme pays and repayment plans can be used to accommodate any increases in tax charges which may arise from the changes.