People planning to retire from the NHS could face an increased retirement age due to new government plans.
A consultation launched by the Department of Health has suggested that people working for the NHS should have a pension age equal to the state pension age, effective 1 April 2015.
Currently, the NHS age of retirement is 60. However, the government has revealed plans to raise the state pension age to 68 by the mid 2030s.
Suggestions for public sector pension reforms began in March 2011, following a report which called for “reforms that can balance the legitimate concerns of taxpayers about the present and future cost of pension commitments in the public sector as well as the wider need to ensure decent levels of retirement income for millions of people who have devoted their working lives in the service of the public.”
Draft regulations currently up for consultation will:
– Introduce guidance for the new NHS Pension Scheme which will be effective from 1 April 2015.
– Establish the legal guidance for the reformed pension scheme.
– Use the results of the recent scheme valuation exercise, and the long-term member contribution rates, which are set for a 4 year period until March 2019.
– Introduce new arrangements for the scheme based on requirements of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013.
Regulations that put in place pension scheme changes are subject to final agreement by health ministers and HM Treasury.
More information is available on the Department of Health website.
