On the go: The government will guarantee that senior clinicians’ pension tax bills will be paid even if the employer ceases to exist, the secretary of state for Health and Social Care announced.
In a statement published on Saturday, Matt Hancock said that should the National Health Service trust or foundation trust employing the clinicians cease to exist, there are provisions that ensure the liabilities would be transferred to other NHS bodies or the secretary of state.
“The secretary of state ultimately takes responsibility for the liabilities of NHS bodies, including NHS England and NHS Improvement,” he noted.
In November, it was announced that doctors and consultants in England will have their pension tax bills covered by the government in an attempt to fix the crisis engulfing the NHS.
Mr Hancock stated that the commitment to make these payments will be contractually binding.
If there is no employer or other NHS body to make this payment at the time the clinician retires, or at any later time when a payment fails to be made, or the NHS body to whom these liabilities are transferred does not have sufficient assets to make the payment, the secretary of state undertakes responsibility for it, or securing that it is made, he added.
Last month, NHS England announced that tax bills incurred by senior physicians this year will be covered by the NHS Pension Scheme under the scheme pays process until a permanent fix is found.
Scheme pays allows savers to settle annual allowance tax charges of more than £2,000 through the pension fund without needing to find funds upfront. Instead, their benefits are adjusted at retirement and will pay interest.
The government will make good on any reduced pension before the doctors reach retirement. The measure will only apply to the 2019-20 tax year.
“Clinicians are therefore now immediately able to take on additional shifts or sessions without worrying about an annual allowance charge on their pensions,” Mr Hancock said.
