Information and Ill Health Retirement statistics: FOI release

Information requested

Form AW8 refers in the main et al:

• section 7 "further information required" - can you send me this further information please
• section 10 4a) - can you please send me information as to what this means
• section 11, can you please send me a pro forma copy of an AW8/MED also:
• can you please send me information please as to who should sign such a certificate
• can you please send me information please as to the first sentence of this section. I particularly would like to see information apropos having to retire before applying for an ill health pension reference the point starting "I grant permission......" It seems to me that given that little is known about Covid-19 and long covid. Long covid has been diagnosed by my GP and this has exacerbated my chronic asthma. an you send me information please about any consideration SPPA has given to long covid cases and obtaining independent expert evidence to support a claim. If no such information exists can you pass this message to the Medical Adviser for their comments part 2, section 2.
• Can you please send me information as to what "rehabilitation" means in the context of this section

Can you please provide the following information for the calendar years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022:

• how many applications under the Health Section profession in Scotland applied for ill health retirement
• how many applications were successful/refused
• how many applications in the above categories were made in NHS Tayside region
• how many applications and decisions were related to mental
• how many applications were in relation to covid/long covid - how many were successful

Please provide information held by the Medical Adviser in relation to long covid and any rules that apply viz this disability and ill health retirement.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information you have requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

We don't currently record on our system the reason(s) for ill health retirements. To gather this data would require significant manual labour as each individual form would need to be reviewed.

We are able to provide answers to your questions outside of this constraint however which are provided below.

AW8 Form

• Section 7 “further information required” – This section relates to commutation. A commutation quote can be requested which will provide the member with 2 options, one with the standard pension and lump sum values and the other with an uprated lump sum by giving up part of the pension. This varies dependant on scheme and outcome of ill-health referral.
• Section 10 4a) – This section requires details of any retirement arrangements (excluding state pension and survivor/dependant benefits) that were in payment before 6 April 2006.
• Section 11 – A copy of the AW8/MED medical certificate is attached. This requires a signature from the medical professional involved in the members care.
• Can you please send me information please as to the first sentence of this section. I particularly would like to see information apropos having to retire before applying for an ill health pension – You do not need to retire before applying for ill health. The start of the application states that your application should be complete 4 months prior to your retirement date. If you have taken early retirement you can still apply for ill health without going through an employer. The same goes for a person who is unemployed or working elsewhere.
• Rehabilitation – The rehabilitation section of the application form allows the employer to consider opportunities to improve the member’s illness over a period of time to support them to be fit for work again. An example of this could be reasonable adjustments in the workplace.
• Medical Advisor Considerations - Before determining entitlement to an award of ill-health retirement, SPPA consults an independent medical adviser who will take all factors into account before providing advice. This includes consideration of all potential treatment options and the relevant medical conditions that could affect the claimant’s ability to undertake their existing, or any other gainful, employment between the date of claim and their normal pension age.

Statistics

The data below covers calendar years 2018 to date and covers how many ill health applications were received, how many successful/rejected and how many received from NHS Tayside. We are unable to provide data on the reason for ill health applications under section 12 as outlined above.

			Failed  Applications
Year	Ill Health Applications	Successful Applications	Ineligible	Referral Rejected	Applications From NHS Tayside
2023	205	130	11	24	8
2022	597	466	28	57	39
2021	445	325	8	56	34
2020	387	290	12	60	28
2019	395	307	21	54	23
2018	423	290	25	100	30

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 202300364376 - AW8 Form

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22 page PDF

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640.0 kB