The Treasury has announced its intention to increase the pension contributions of higher-earning NHS staff significantly over the coming years.
The proposed maximum increase in contributions in 2012/3 will be 2.4%, meaning that doctors currently paying the higher contribution of 8.5% of salary would pay 10.9%.
A doctor earning £100,000 a year will pay almost £2,000 a year more for their final salary schemes by the end of next year, the figures show.
Contributions are set to increase again in 2013/4 and 2014/5.
Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said public sector pensions must be “rebalanced” if they were going to be sustainable in the long term.
He announced that 750,000 of the lowest paid public sector workers will face no increased contribution, but five million others in public pension schemes will be asked to pay more, with the highest earners hardest hit.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of BMA council, commented: “This isn’t about making the NHS pension sustainable in the long term - it already is. This is simply a tax on public sector workers. The NHS scheme is already affordable, yet the government is asking doctors to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds more for a worse deal on retirement.
“The NHS pension is currently delivering a massive surplus to the Treasury. It underwent major reform only three years ago, which saw doctors’ contributions increase significantly. As the Public Accounts Committee recently pointed out, the scheme’s costs are already set to continue to decrease well into the future.
The Treasury claimed the proposals will deliver around £1 billion of the £1.2 billion savings in 2012/13. Of these around £530 million comes from the NHS Pension Scheme, around £300 million from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and around £180 million in the Civil Service Scheme.
There is a 12-week consultation process on the proposals.
“We thoroughly disapprove of the way the government is conducting this exercise, which is no way to treat dedicated public sector workers, or to achieve sensible agreement. We would encourage all NHS staff to respond to this consultation,” urged Meldrum.
Read the consultation document.
Contribute your views to the consultation at: nhspensioncontributions@dh.gsi.gov.uk
Tags: Pensions
