FOI-01824

Thank you for your request for information about the following:

FOI-01824

Changes to survivor benefits introduced by the Social Security Act 1986 resulted in the NHS Pension Scheme providing survivor benefits to widowers (male survivors of opposite-sex marriages) based on the female spouse’s service from 6 April 1988 onwards. .A series of judicial rulings involving the effects of the incorporation of same sex marriages has resulted in changes to the NHS Pension Scheme Regulations such that Widowers’ Pensions have been increased to now receive 50% of the deceased Scheme Female Member’s pension rather than the 16.6% previously paid.

Application of the new regulations are retrospective to the commencement of the Dependant’s pension (provided that the Member died after 5th December 2005). NHS Pensions are to be implemented within 30 days of NHS Pensions becoming aware of all the necessary information it requires to action it. This is the ‘Due Date’ and is stated by NHS Pensions to be 1st April 2019 for these changes.

The BSA had the authority to make any payments in arrears as necessary prior to the proposed amendments being enacted.
Please supply me with the following information;
A.

1).   The total number of Widowers’ Pensions that had to be changed from the lower to the higher rate as a 
        result of the amendments to the Regulations.

2).   The number that were fully paid within the 30 days of the due date 1st April 2019.

3).   The average time taken to fully pay arrears to individuals after the statutory 30 days.

4).   The number not yet fully paid as at 1st April 2023.

5).   The reason for any delay after this period of four years from the due date.

B.
ARREARS Of Pay:  HMRC has issued instructions to employers and pension providers as to how to process the tax coding for individual tax years where arrears of pay cover more than a current year and are paid as PAYE. The relevant document is PAYE70023 - PAYE operation
What date was this information / instruction received by NHS Pensions?

SAR-02413

Further to a series of judicial decisions affecting the NHS Pension Scheme 1995 Regulations (as amended) my Widower’s Pension was increased to 50% of the female scheme member’s pension originating in March 2017. Payment of pensions should commence within 30 days of NHS Pensions having all the information it requires to enable it to make payment – ‘The Due Date’. NHS Pensions has stated this to be 1st April 2019. The change was retrospective such that a considerable amount of arrears due to me had accumulated over a period of six years three months.

My new rate of pension did not commence, and no arrears were paid until 26th June 2023 a delay of four years and three months. 

I wish to be informed of all the details of the reason for a delay of this magnitude including the paper and electronic trails recording the process of implementation as it has affected me.

There is every reason for me to suspect that an error of administration has occurred and I wish to discover the precise details of such an error.

Your requests were received on 25 March 2024. Given that your Subject Access Request can be answered without accessing your personal information we are also dealing with it under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This question is answered under question 6 below.

##Response

1)	There have been 5,598 Goodwin Bereavement cases completed resulting in a change in rate. 

2)	None of these were completed within 30 days of 1 April 2019. 

3)	The average number of days to pay arrears, based on the elapsed time between the 30 day target and the payment date, is 1,557 days (4 years, 3 months)

4)	There are 3,357 cases currently outstanding calculation and payment (note not all of these cases will result in a change in rate or subsequent arrears)

5)	Following the Employment Tribunal judgement on Goodwin being handed down in June 2020, the government confirmed that the difference in treatment of a male survivor or partner of a female scheme member would need to equalised in public service pension schemes. The NHS Pension Scheme regulations were consulted on and amended by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to reflect the changes with effect from 1 July 2021. A detailed assessment of the scale of administration impact as undertaken in respect of the system and process changes required. Any new survivor benefits calculations have been done in accordance with the judgement. However, for those with benefits in payment at the time, the process of retrospectively recalculating those benefits has taken longer due to resource demands and workload. We are now actively making payment to those affected and paying interest in respect of any which are late.

6)	There is no record of this information/instruction being received by NHS Pensions. However, for tax purposes pension benefits are treated as earned income and it is HMRC who will confirm what a pensioner or dependent’s tax code will be. Anyone who wishes to query their tax code or income tax deductions is asked to contact HMRC at the following with their National Insurance number and pension reference number. 

HM Revenue & Customs 

Pay As You Earn 

BX9 1AS

Telephone 0300 200 3300 

Please note that this request and our response is published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01824 

Data Queries

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http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ 

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http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ 

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

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Tags: NHS Pensions
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