The government has been encouraged to consider taking “urgent measures” to help savers avoid missed opportunities, after it announced a delay in the production of NHS pension scheme remedial service statements.

In a written statement, Minister of State for Health (Secondary Care), Karin Smyth, confirmed that technical complexities, some of which extend beyond the NHS Pension Scheme, have affected delivery timelines for statements.

She stated: “The NHS Business Services Authority, as the scheme administrator of the NHS Pension Scheme, is prioritising the delivery of remediable service statements.

“However, in order to ensure that affected members receive robust statements that enable informed decision-making I have agreed to a revised delivery plan for these statements with the authority, which it is communicating with affected members.

“The revised delivery plan prioritises members based on their likelihood of facing financial detriment as a consequence of the discrimination.

“Government acknowledges that the revised timelines mean many members will receive their statement later than anticipated and that this will have an impact, especially on those retired members who will financially benefit from their choice.”

The remediable service statements are required as part of the McCloud remedy, with schemes required to provide affected members with the statements, setting out how their choice of pension benefits, legacy or reformed, will affect the value of their pension benefits.

Members who have already retired must also be provided with a remediable service statement to allow them to make their benefit choice retrospectively.

Whilst the governing legislation requires that a statement is provided to each affected member on or before 1 April 2025, the new delivery plan has extended this by varying lengths for different members, ranging from three months to 20 months.

Quilter NHS pension expert, Graham Crossley, warned that the delays are making financial planning difficult for many individuals, and could lead to “missed opportunities” to use full allowances.

“And these opportunities are lost unless the government introduces exceptional measures, such as extending carry forward rules to five years instead of three,” he continued.

“The update from the Minister of State for Health highlights the complexity and challenges involved in producing these statements. While we understand the technical difficulties, the impact on financial planning cannot be understated.

“The revised delivery plan prioritises members based on their likelihood of facing financial detriment, but the extended deadlines mean many members will receive their statements later than anticipated.”

Given these concerns, Crossley urged the government to consider taking “urgent measures”, iincluding extending the carry forward rules and providing immediate remediable service statements for those needing transitional tax-free amount certificates.

“These steps are crucial to ensure that affected members can make informed decisions about their pension benefits without further delays,” he said.

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