NHS Pension Scheme (PO-28551)

Ombudsman’s Determination

Outcome

Mrs E’s complaint against NHS BSA is upheld and, to put matters right, NHS BSA shall, within 28 days of the date of this Determination, reconsider Mrs E’s eligibility for Special Class Status (SCS). This is because there are flaws in NHS BSA’s decision making process; that is:

• it has not correctly applied Regulation R2 of The NHS Pension Scheme Regulations 1995 (the Regulations); and
• it did not follow the approach set out in the judgment of NHS BSA v Williams [2017] ICR 327 (NHS BSA v Williams).

Complaint summary

Mrs E has complained that NHS BSA has said that she is not eligible to maintain her SCS. This means, if she chooses to retire at age 55, she will be subject to early retirement reductions.