FOI-03904

##Request ‘From the February 2026 NHSBSA Board meeting, please provide the paper: ‘26/17 NHS Pensions service - key priorities update’ Subsequent NHSBSA Board meeting papers and corresponding minutes that concern the NHS Pensions service. Please can you provide documents, papers and emails from the last 2 years that reference or concern delays in paying NHS pension annual inflation uplifts relating to the 1995 Section of the NHS pension.’ The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 15 June 2026. We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). ##Our response We have considered this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA 2000) and are issuing a refusal notice under section 17 of the FOIA. With regards to emails from the last 2 years that reference or concern delays in paying NHS pension annual inflation uplifts, the NHSBSA does hold the requested information; however, compliance with the request in full would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12 of the FOIA. We estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the non-central Government limit of £450. The limit has been specified in The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 and represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the NHSBSA holds the information, and locating, retrieving, extracting and checking the information. Please see the following calculations which sets out the estimated cost for compliance with this request: The colleagues from the following departments and teams will need to search their email inbox chats to confirm if the requested information in scope is held: * NHS Pensions operational and customer service teams * Information Governance * Communications * Stakeholder Engagement * Finance * Commercial * Senior managers, heads of service, and leadership The total headcount for the relevant teams above, as of August 2026, is 2,469. We reasonably estimate it will take a minimum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 60 minutes to search email inboxes and review the contents of the email to determine if it falls in scope of the request. 10 minutes x 2,469 headcount = 411.5 hours (minimum) 60 minutes x 2,469 headcount = 2,469 hours (maximum) In addition, records storage systems will need to be searched to confirm what information is held in scope of this request: 30 minutes per team (minimum). 30 minutes x 7 teams = 3.5 hours. 60 minutes per team (minimum). 60 minutes x 7 teams = 7 hours. Minimum total = 411.5 hours + 3.5 hours = 415 hours Maximum total = 2,469 hours + 7 hours = 2,476 hours Under our section 16 duty to advise and assist, I can confirm that your request could be refined within the appropriate limit, if the scope was reduced to only board papers and minutes. However, even if the scope of your request was reduced, the following exemption would apply to the information: __Section 36 - (Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs):__ The information you requested is being withheld as it falls under the exemption in section 36 of the FOIA. Specifically, the following sub-sections: * Section 36(2)(b)(i) - This is because disclosure would be likely to inhibit the free and frank provision of advice. * Section 36(2)(b)(ii) - This is because disclosure would be likely to inhibit the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. * Section 36(2)(c) - This is because disclosure would be likely to otherwise prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. Section 36(2) of the FOIA requires the public authority to consult a relevant qualified person before the exemption is engaged. It further necessitates that the qualified person has the reasonable opinion that the harm referenced would or would be likely to, arise through disclosure. The name of the qualified person in this case is Michael Brodie, Chief Executive Officer of the NHSBSA. In the qualified person's opinion, Section 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii) and (c) are engaged. Section 36 of the FOIA 2000 is a qualified, prejudice-based exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that in order for the information to be withheld, the public interest in maintaining the exemption must outweigh the exemption in disclosure. __Public Interest Test:__ __Considerations in favour of disclosure:__ * Promoting accountability and transparency by public authorities for their decisions. * Promoting accountability in spending of public money. __Considerations against disclosure:__ * There is an inherent public interest in allowing free and frank discussion and/or the exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. * The NHSBSA Board in scope of the request provide a forum for colleagues to discuss agenda items openly, including any challenges and risks * Releasing information will receive significant media coverage and spike in queries which is likely to impact on delivery of the NHS Pensions service. * Wider impact on project boards across the NHSBSA * Releasing detailed information that is included would provide a chilling effect to discussions at future meetings as colleagues would not want to be fully open in the papers they submit to the board and subsequent minutes * There is an inherent public interest in maintaining the effective conduct of public affairs * Diversion of resources to manage the impact of disclosure * The resulting disruption or delays to the implementation and delivery of the NHS Pension Service would be detrimental to individual pension members. __Conclusion:__ We recognise that there is a public interest in the disclosure of information which facilitates accountability and transparency of public bodies for decisions taken by them and to enable the public to understand decisions affecting their lives and to contribute to public understanding and participation; however, there is also a public interest in the NHSBSA having the space to have free and frank discussions and/or the exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation without fear of disclosure into the public domain. There is also the inherent public interest in ensuring the effective conduct of public affairs. Having undertaken the balancing exercise, we have concluded that the weight afforded to the public interest in maintaining the exemption at this time outweighs the public interest in disclosure. Please see the following link to view the exemption in full – https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/36 You may also find the following information helpful: Annual inflation uplifts for the 1995 Section of the NHS Pension Scheme are tied to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). Once in payment or deferred, the annual Pensions Increase (PI) is applied every April based on the CPI rate from the 12 months up to the previous September. For instance, the April 2026 uplift delivered a 1.7% increase. __Data Queries__ Please contact [email protected] ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data. __Reusing the data and copyright__ If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact [email protected] . This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented. The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2026”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence. Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.