§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes are proposed to the NHS pension scheme; and how many existing contributing members to the scheme there are in each(a) region and (b) county. [188719]
§ Mr. HuttonThe NHS Confederation is leading a review of the National Health Service Pension Scheme, in partnership with the NHS Pensions Agency, the National Assembly for Wales, the Department of Health and the NHS Trade Unions. The review has made good progress but formal proposals have not yet been finalised. The aim is to have proposals ready for consultation by the end of autumn.
The NHS Pension Scheme currently has over 1.1 million contributing members. Unfortunately, it is not possible, due to the way in which the NHS Pensions Agency holds its data, to identify the geographical profile of the membership.