Government administers temporary pain relief to NHS pension crisis – comment from Tilney

It has been announced that doctors will temporarily have their pensions tax bills paid by the NHS in order to avoid understaffing during the notoriously busy Winter period. Under the proposal, tax bills caused by overtime can be paid out of staff pensions with the NHS committing to top up their pots at a later date.

Commenting on the news, Gary Smith, chartered financial planner at Tilney, says: “This is a very welcome development, which provides a temporary solution to what is rapidly becoming a national crisis. Unfortunately, it is not providing a long term solution and this measure is simply kicking the can down the road to next year. There is also the danger that this will lead to calls for similar treatment from other senior public sector workers.

“Whichever government we get next month needs to address the issue of NHS pensions as a matter of urgency. There is not a simple solution to this problem and the ideas currently being consulted on won’t address this issue fully. Unless the tapering of the annual allowance is scrapped, and the final salary link on previous versions of the scheme are removed, I don’t see this issue being solved. I would therefore call on all political parties to make their position on the tapered allowance and how they intend to address this very clear in their upcoming manifestos.”