FOI-02633

Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

##Request 

‘1 - Please can you provide me with a copy of the following information dated 2013 or earlier 

o The Leaving Early and Transferring Out Guide 

o The Transfers Factsheets 

2 - What year did the NHS first transfer-out pensions to off-shore QROPS? 

3 - What due diligence checks would the NHS Trustees have undertaken in 2013 prior to transferring an NHS pension into a HMRC recognised QROPS scheme? 

4 - What date did the NHS pension website become live and how were staff told about its existence? 

5 - How were members of the scheme who had left the NHS kept up to date with important information about the pension scheme from 2007 to 2013, including those members who were living abroad? 

6 - How many complaints about QROPS transfers-out have the NHS received since 2006? How were/are QROPS complaints recorded and where was or is this data sent?’ 

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 4 March 2025.  

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. 

##Our response 

##Question 1 - Please can you provide me with a copy of the following information dated 2013 or earlier 

o The Leaving Early and Transferring Out Guide 

o The Transfers Factsheets 

A copy of the 2013 version is attached. 

The National Archives website holds historic versions of the NHS Pensions and NHSBSA websites where previous guides were published: 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17294 

https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/timeline/http://www.nhspa.gov.uk/ 

##Question 2 - What year did the NHS first transfer-out pensions to off-shore QROPS? 

The Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) programme applied to overseas transfers from 6 April 2006. The first QROPS transfer took place in 2006. 

##Question 3 - What due diligence checks would the NHS Trustees have undertaken in 2013 prior to transferring an NHS pension into a HMRC recognised QROPS scheme? 

NHS Pensions are not able to provide financial advice, but procedures are in place to ensure members interested in a transfer are prompted to read the relevant information and guidance available. Information and guidance is available on our website: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/leaving-or-taking-break-scheme.  

This highlights the potential risks associated with transferring benefits out of the Scheme.  

It signposts members to seek further information from organisations such as the Financial Conduct Authority, the Pensions Regulator and the Pensions Advisory Service. It also recommends members consider taking financial advice before making a decision about transferring their benefits. This is reiterated in our CETV statements of entitlement. The transfer election forms (declaration) also prompts members to read the guidance and to declare that they have done this. 

##Question 4 - What date did the NHS pension website become live and how were staff told about its existence? 

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is not held by the NHSBSA. The NHSBSA does not hold any information about the NHS Pensions website prior to the formation of the NHSBSA on 1 October 2005. 

The below link to the National Archives shows the website was created in 1999: 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17294 

##Question 5 - How were members of the scheme who had left the NHS kept up to date with important information about the pension scheme from 2007 to 2013, including those members who were living abroad? 

The NHS Pensions website was updated regularly. 

The National Archives website holds historic versions of the NHS Pensions and NHSBSA websites: 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17294 

https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/timeline/http://www.nhspa.gov.uk/ 

##Question 6 - How many complaints about QROPS transfers-out have the NHS received since 2006? How were/are QROPS complaints recorded and where was or is this data sent?’ 

We have considered this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and are issuing a refusal notice under section 17 of the FOIA.  

The NHSBSA does hold the requested information; however, we estimate that the cost of compliance with the request would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12 of the FOIA.  

We estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the non-central Government limit of £450. The limit has been specified in The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 and represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the NHSBSA holds the information, and locating, retrieving, extracting and checking the information. 

Due to the way complaints are categorised, we would need to manually interrogate 5,886,434 member records. We estimate it would take 5 minutes per record. 

Please see the following calculations which sets out the estimated cost for compliance with this request: 

5,886,434 x 5 minutes = 490,536.17 hours 

Please be advised that due to the way that the information is held by the NHSBSA, it is not possible to submit a refined request under the appropriate limit. 

Please see the following link to view the section 12 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/12   

##Data Queries 

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data. 

##Reusing the data and copyright 

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data, please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented. 

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/  

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025” Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence. 

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information. 

Tags: NHS Pension Scheme, Pensions, QROPS
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log