From 1 April 2022 all active membership is in the 2015 scheme where the minimum pension age in relation to 2015 benefit accrual is currently 55.

The minimum pension age is due to increase to 57 on 6 April 2028. 
If you previously had membership in the 1995 section, your minimum pension age in relation to accrued 1995 section benefits is 50 (so long as you had service between 31 March 2000 and 5 April 2006). If you don’t meet this criteria, then your minimum pension age is 55 and will rise to 57 on 6 April 2028 .

If you previously had membership in the 2008 section, your minimum pension age is 55. You will retain a protected right to this minimum pension age if you were in pensionable service on 4 November 2021.  If not, then your minimum pension age will rise to 57 on 6 April 2028.  
If you are 50 or over (in relation to 1995 section accrual) or 55 or over (in relation to 2008 section/2015 scheme accrual) and have at least two years’ membership, you will be able to draw your pension from your date of redundancy, should you wish to do so.

If you have transitioned from the 1995/2008 section to the 2015 scheme, then the requirement for two years membership includes the earlier legacy scheme service.

If you are under the scheme minimum pension age you are not able to draw your pension immediately on redundancy. The benefits will be deferred and will be payable at the scheme normal pension age or. can be paid with an actuarial reduction when you reach the scheme minimum pension age.

If you are over the scheme minimum pension age your pension is payable with the appropriate actuarial reduction if you wish to access it whilst retaining the full redundancy payment.  The pension can also remain deferred in the scheme until a later point.

Alternatively, if you are over the minimum pension age you can opt to use the redundancy payment to fund the payment of an unreduced pension. This is not possible for Salaried GPs employed by an APMS, PMS or GMS practice.

Where the cost of the early payment of benefits is less than the redundancy payment, the difference will be paid to you by your employer.

Where the cost of funding unreduced pension benefits is greater, any shortfall will be met by your employer. This does not apply to doctors on the 2021 SAS contract who are subject to the Agenda for Change terms and conditions in this regard. Please see below in this guide and also the following NHS Employers guidance.

If you have reached the normal pension age of the scheme (60 for 1995 section benefits, 65 for 2008 section benefits and State Pension Age for 2015 scheme benefits) you will be able to take the redundancy payment in full and simply retire and access your unreduced pension entitlement.

Early retirement in the interests of the efficiency of service might be available if you have given valued service in the past but are no longer able to do so. This might be because of new or expanding duties, or a decline in capability arising from age or domestic circumstances.

No redundancy payment is payable, but an unreduced pension is paid immediately if over the minimum pension age in the relevant scheme. This option is available to members with 1995/2008 section accrual as well as 2015 scheme accrual.

• You can accept the redundancy payment and simply continue in pensionable service in your ongoing NHS post and in any subsequent post undertaken.
• If you have accrued benefits in the 1995 section and you are made redundant between age 50 and 55 (assuming you have protected minimum pension age of 50) it will only be possible to access your benefits from all of your posts but only in relation to the accrued 1995 section benefits. It will not be possible to access benefits solely from the redundant post and it will not be possible to access any 2015 scheme accrual.
• If you are over the age of 55, you can use your redundancy payment to enable an unreduced pension to be payable only in respect of the redundant post. You can then continue in NHS pensionable service in the ongoing post and in any subsequent NHS post undertaken.
• If you are over the minimum pension age, you can use your redundancy payment to enable an unreduced pension to be payable in respect of all of the NHS posts held up to the date of redundancy. Further 2015 scheme membership is possible, including for 1995 section members, with effect from 1 April 2023.   

Redundancy options for those in NHS employment as well as in non NHS employments is detailed below:

1. If you are employed by the NHS and are a member of the NHS pension scheme.
2. If you are employed by a university or medical school or another organisation and have retained your NHS scheme membership under special arrangements (known as the ‘direction’ arrangements).
3. If you are employed by a university or medical school or another organisation and are a member of their occupational pension scheme.

Doctors in category 1 - are eligible for NHS pension and redundancy benefits on redundancy in the normal way, as described previously.  Salaried GPs cannot use the redundancy payment to fund for unreduced pension benefits as this is not available to practitioners. 

Doctors in category 2 - this depends on the exact formulation of your employer’s direction arrangement. If this applies to you, contact us for further guidance.

Doctors in category 3 – your employer’s pension scheme may or may not provide the same options as the NHS pension scheme. You should refer to the individual scheme rules for further information and contact us for guidance.

If you ceased practising as a GP more than twelve months before being made redundant, your GP pension will become payable if you retire from all your secondary care posts.

If you ceased to practise less than twelve months ago or are still practising, you can accept the redundancy payment in respect of the secondary care post and continue in pensionable GP employment and any subsequent secondary care posts undertaken.

Or, if you are over age 55, you can use the redundancy payment to fund the unreduced payment of your benefits from your hospital post only.

There are three options available for your GP pension.
•    You can claim your concurrent GP benefits prior to the scheme’s normal pension age and consequently the benefits will be actuarially reduced. If you claim benefits after your normal pension age, they are payable to you without a reduction.
•    You can defer accessing your GP benefits until a later date.
•    You can simply continue in pensionable GP employment.

If you are made redundant and defer taking your benefits, you will retain a normal pension age of 55 (provided that you have had more than 20 years’ service as an MHO). You will be able to access your pension without an actuarial reduction from this age onwards.

If you claim immediate payment of your pension between the ages of 50 and 55 on being made redundant, abatement would not have applied if you returned to NHS employment. From 1 April 2024 abatement will no longer apply to MHOs who return to NHS employment between ages 55 and 60.

Doctors on the 2021 SAS contracts In England are agreeing to different terms in relation to any redundancy payment due. You will be bound to the Agenda for Change terms and conditions.  This means that on redundancy the employer will not meet the costs of paying the pension unreduced.  If a doctor under this contract wishes to receive the pension unreduced they will need to forgo the redundancy payment to meet this and if this is insufficient will need to make up the difference from their own funds.  If the redundancy payment exceeds the cost required to pay the pension unreduced then the balance is paid to the doctor.  More information can be found on the NHS employers website.

Entitlement to a redundancy payment should be based on all of your NHS roles but you will need to seek the assistance of a BMA Employment Adviser if this is not the case.

If you are over the minimum pension age you can access your pension with an actuarial reduction but cannot use the redundancy payment to fund for the payment of an unreduced pension.

If you have not reached your minimum pension age your pension benefits will remain deferred in the scheme.  If you have already reached the normal pension age of the scheme your benefits are payable without any actuarial reduction. 

You can request your employer to allocate all or a portion of the redundancy payment towards purchasing additional pension in the 2015 Scheme. However, it's crucial to note that the process of purchasing additional pension must be finalised before your last day of pensionable service. It's important to recognise that employers are not obligated to accept such requests.

The first £30,000 of your redundancy payment is tax free. Any excess will be subject to tax at your marginal rate.

If, in addition to a redundancy payment, a further amount is paid (an ex-gratia payment), this is tax-free but only within the £30,000 limit.

You may not have to work your notice period but continue to get paid by your employer. This is taxable in full unless it is paid as a result of breaching a requirement to give notice. In this case it is tax-free within the £30,000 limit. Other payments may fall within the £30,000 limit if they are shown to be compensation for breach of contract.

National insurance contributions are also deducted from payments above £30,000.

This should be taken as general guidance only and is not intended to cover every situation. The taxation of termination payments is a complex area and you should take specialist advice from HMRC or your accountant.

Added years

A credit will be given for any added years purchased. The size of this credit will depend on how much of the added years contract has been completed.

An actuarial reduction will apply where the benefits are paid earlier than the intended contract end date. This reduction will apply regardless of whether you have used your redundancy payment to fund the early payment of unreduced benefits.

Additional pension

A credit will be given for any additional pension purchase made. The size of this credit will depend upon how much of the purchase has been completed.

An actuarial reduction will apply where the benefits are paid earlier than the intended retirement date. This reduction will apply regardless of whether you have used your redundancy payment to fund the early payment of unreduced benefits.

If you pay by regular contributions, the contributions will be refunded if retirement takes place within twelve months of commencing the purchase.

If you paid by a single lump sum and retirement takes place within twelve months of making the payment, the purchase is nonetheless included in the benefits payable.

AVCs

The accumulated value of any AVCs (additional voluntary contributions) or FSAVCs (free standing additional voluntary contributions) can be taken at the same time as your NHS pension on early retirement. This need not be the case, however, and the purchase can be deferred.

Deferment of an AVC or FSAVC plan does not necessarily result in greater benefits. You should seek independent financial advice if you are considering doing this.

The redundancy payment is not pensionable and therefore doesn't include pension contributions.

You can return to NHS employment following redundancy.

In cases of early retirement on the grounds of redundancy, organisational change or in the interests of the efficiency of service, a break of only one day is sufficient to claim your pension.

There are restrictions which affect eligibility to retain your full redundancy payment if you return to NHS employment. Contact us for further details on this.

If you return to work after claiming your pension following redundancy, your NHS pension will be unaffected.

If you return to work after claiming your pension following retirement on the grounds of the efficiency of the service then your pension may be affected. Read our guidance on abatement for further information.

If you opted to retire early following redundancy, you may be able to rejoin the pension scheme. This is if you have not reached the scheme maximum of age 75.

If you were a member of the 1995 section of the scheme, you can rejoin NHS pensionable service from 1 April 2023 onwards (1 April 2024 in Northern Ireland) following retirement. If you were made redundant from one post while continuing in a concurrent post. You may opt to continue in the scheme in respect of the concurrent post and any subsequent posts thereafter.

If you were a member of the 2008 section or the 2015 scheme it is possible to continue membership in the scheme immediately after retirement

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Prior to 1 April 2023 ongoing pensionable CEAs (clinical excellence awards)/non-pensionable Clinical Impact Awards were not payable after retirement. New awards  could be applied for in relation to the work undertaken after retirement.

From 1 April 2023, when members drawing 1995 section benefits will be permitted to resume pensionable employment, the payment of pensionable awards subject to transitional arrangements will no longer cease on full or partial retirement.

NCEAs or NCIAs subject to transition arrangements will continue provided the eligibility criteria continue to be met.  However, the Advisory Committee on Clinical Impact Awards (ACCIA) reserves the right to request early re-application where there are significant changes to an award holder’s job plan as a result of any ‘retirement’ arrangements.

With effect from 1 April 2023, a consultant with a pre-2018 Local Clinical Excellence Award (LCEA) who retires, or partially retires, and returns to the same employer will retain their pre-2018 LCEA.