In 2015 the government made changes to most public service pension schemes, including the NHS Pension Scheme. These reforms didn’t apply to members closest to retirement, who stayed in their legacy schemes with ‘transitional protection’.
This means that members with full protection didn’t have to move to the reformed 2015 Scheme at all, and members with tapered protection could stay in their existing scheme for longer than members without transitional protection.
The Court of Appeal later found that this discriminated against younger members. The government is removing this age discrimination from public service pension schemes where transitional protection was introduced.
If you were affected by the changes in 2015, when it’s time to pay you your pension benefits, you’ll be asked if you want to receive legacy scheme or reform scheme benefits for your service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. This is when the discrimination could apply and it’s called the remedy period.
You can watch our video to understand why the changes are being made and what they mean:
You can also read the government changes to remove age discrimination from public service pension schemes video transcript (Word: 98KB).
You can find out whether you’re affected and when these changes will be introduced:
Understanding if your NHS Pension is affected by changes to public sector pensions
When you'll make your decision about your NHS Pension benefits
If you’re already retired or preparing to retire
Your NHS Pension after 1 April 2022
When will the changes to public sector pensions take place
Information for employers about changes to public sector pensions
You may find it useful to read our glossary (PDF: 159KB) of the terms and phrases used.