The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS Pensions) administers the NHS Pension Schemes in England and Wales on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in accordance with the regulations which govern the schemes.
Why we process your information
We will use your information to administer and maintain your pension scheme record, and to calculate and process payments of your NHS Pension benefits to you, your partner or your dependants.
We may also use your information to:
- send you details about your pension
- communicate with your employer
- prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute possible fraud
- help plan and make improvements to NHS services
We may ask you for:
- information that identifies you, and if appropriate, your partner and dependants
- banking details
- information to support any application for medical retirement
- authority to deal with third party representatives
We will receive details of your membership and pension contributions from your employer.
Sharing your personal information
We may share your information with:
- the Department of Health and Social Care - to administer and pay pension benefits, or to inform government policy
- the Department for Work and Pensions, the Cabinet Office, and the General Register Office - to prevent and detect fraud and mistakes. This could include payments continuing following the death of a pension member.
- the Government Actuarial Department - to administer the pension scheme and inform government policy
- NHS Digital (NHS Workforce) - to provide data to estimate average earnings and expenses data to be carried out for England and Wales
- those acting on our behalf, such as our Medical Services provider
- anyone the law requires us to, such as HM Revenue and Customs
A credit reference agency may perform a check to confirm your address if we lose touch with you. A record of this will be left on your credit record but will not affect your credit rating.
Your information will not be transferred outside of the UK or European Economic Area, unless you instruct us to do so.
Keeping your personal information
We will delete or anonymise your personal data when we no longer need to be able to identify you from that information. This will be:
If you leave the pension scheme before retirement age
Seven years after your state pension age, provided you are not entitled to NHS pension benefits.
If benefits are paid to your partner or dependants in the event of your death
Seven years after your partner or dependant’s death. We will also retain your partner or dependant’s information for 7 years after their death.
All other circumstances
No more than 50 years after you die.
If you do not apply for your pension benefits, we will periodically review your record to check if they are still needed.
Your rights
The information you provide will be managed as required by Data Protection law.
You have the right to:
- receive a copy of the information the NHSBSA holds about you
- request your information be changed if you believe it was not correct at the time you provided it
- request that your information be deleted if you believe we are keeping it for longer than necessary
Find out more about your rights and how we process information.