14 July 2026
If you are covering the update from Karin Smyth, Minister of State for Health (Secondary Care), on the NHS Pension Scheme and the implementation of the McCloud remedy, please see the following comment from Graham Crossley, NHS pensions expert at Quilter:
"It is encouraging to see the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSBSA continuing to publish monthly data on McCloud remedy delivery, providing greater transparency on progress against what remains one of the largest and most complex pension remediation exercises ever undertaken.
"The decision to delay setting new statutory deadlines until there is greater certainty around delivery capacity and system automation is understandable. While members will inevitably be disappointed by further delays, there is little value in establishing ambitious deadlines only for them to be missed later. Realistic and achievable targets ultimately provide greater confidence for affected scheme members.
"However, delays continue to have genuine consequences for those awaiting completion of their remedy. For some members this means continued financial detriment where they may be entitled to higher pension benefits, while for others the passage of time creates additional complexity as circumstances change through retirement, partial retirement, bereavement or wider tax planning decisions.
"The latest figures suggest NHSBSA is making progress in increasing statement production, with a notable uplift in activity during recent months. What will be equally important, however, is ensuring that once members have made their McCloud election, those choices are enacted promptly. The published data indicates more than 7,600 members have returned a choice while around 6,500 have had that choice implemented, highlighting that the challenge extends beyond issuing statements alone.
"The success of the remedy programme should not ultimately be measured by the volume of paperwork produced, but by the timely and accurate resolution of members' pension positions. Alongside additional capacity and greater automation, specialist technical expertise will remain essential if the NHS is to complete this hugely complex exercise while maintaining confidence among affected members."
