NHS Pension Scheme

Last week the Government announced increased contributions from April 2012 for most members of the NHS Pension Scheme. Those proposals are now subject to consultation which closes on 30 September. The House of Commons Library has published a background paper on the NHS Pension Scheme packed with facts and figures about scheme membership, past protection arrangements and looks at how the Hutton Review might impact on the scheme: http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN03281

The NHS Pension Scheme is the largest occupational pension scheme in Europe. At 31 March 2010, it had over two and a half million members, as follows:

Active members: 1,368,215
Deferred members: 524,726
Pensioners in payment: 638,610

The average (mean) pension in payment in 2009/10 was £7,234. Payments from the scheme are very dispersed, with three quarters receiving less than £9,000 a year, but one per cent receiving about £55,000 or more.