Stephen Boyle

The Auditor General for Scotland today published a new report which raises concerns about the SPPA’s work to deliver pensions “remedy” calculations to members of police, fire, NHS and teachers’ pension schemes.

This work arises from the 2018 McCloud judgement on age discrimination within the UK’s 2015 pension reforms.

The SPPA did not meet a 1 April 2025 statutory deadline, meaning more than 50,000 retired scheme members were left waiting to hear if they are due higher pension payments.

Today’s report warns that 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, the report warns 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.”