The high court will allow the BMA to hold a judicial review to appeal the Government’s attempts to make members pay for the McCloud remedy. This remedy is due to rectify the deemed age discrimination of moving some NHS pension members to the 2015 scheme.
BMA pensions committee chair Dr Vishal Sharma said the decision was ‘hugely significant’ and that pension scheme arrangements were a key reason for falling recruitment and retention in the health service.
Previous government estimates suggest that the McCloud remedy would add around £4bn per annum to scheme liabilities from 2015.
Dr Vishal Sharma said: “The Government acted unlawfully when reforming the NHS pension scheme in 2015, and consequently is obligated to fix its mistakes. However, instead of paying for this mistake itself, it has tried to pass this cost onto members. In effect, it is asking NHS staff and other public sector workers to pay for the Government’s unlawful actions.”
