The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) needs to be more transparent about its progress updating thousands of people about their pension entitlement.
In 2018 it was judged that reforms to UK public sector pensions had involved age discrimination. This meant the SPPA had a legal obligation to recalculate pension options for the Police, Fire, NHS, and Teachers schemes it administers in Scotland, and issue ‘remedy’ statements.
But it did not meet the 1 April 2025 statutory deadline. The delay means more
than 50,000 retired scheme members are waiting to hear if they are due
higher pension payments.
Overly ambitious revised targets created an impression of progress to scheme members that did not fully account for the scale and complexity of the work involved.
As of November 2025, the SPPA had issued statements to 55 per cent of scheme members – 108,506 of 196,316 eligible members. This includes active and deferred members, as well as retirees. Of those retirees, 51,802 out of 68,239 members had not
received a remedy pension statement.
The SPPA is now working towards a revised deadline of 31 July 2028. However, progress remains slow and it remains unclear if the SPPA will meet its revised timescales.
Auditors also reported wider concerns about the governance and transparency of the agency.
Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: ‘I’m concerned about the SPPA’s capacity to deliver outstanding remedy statements by the extended timescales.
‘The impact of ongoing delays is of significant concern to many scheme members, particularly current pensioners and those close to retirement.
‘The SPPA needs to provide greater transparency on its progress and take action to address other issues regarding governance and transparency raised by the auditor.’
