McCloud Judgement on NHS Pensions

Up to 50% of pensions statements being sent to NHS pension members affected by the McCloud remedy may contain incorrect information, medical accountants have estimated.

Remedial pension savings statements (RPSS) that carry updated details about a member’s retirement pot are needed to recalculate their tax position and determine if they are due tax rebates or if they owe more tax.

The tax position may have changed for those whose pensionable service for the years between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 was ‘rolled back’ into the 1995/2008 pension ‘legacy’ scheme last October. This measure was taken under the McCloud remedy that sought to address age discrimination caused by changes in 2015 to public sector pensions.

Affected members, including GPs, practice managers and practice staff, have only until 31 January 2025 to complete a tax reassessment process (via an HMRC digital service) to determine where they stand financially.

However, they cannot start without an RPSS, which were due to be sent out by the NHS Business Services Authority by October 6.

The Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants (AISMA) has now warned that errors have been identified in the first batch of statements sent out.

You should discuss your position and pension records with your specialist medical accountant now! Cheshire LMC will be running a webinar on this topic shortly.