Introduction and Eligibility

During the 2024/25 tax year, consultants in Northern Ireland received three uplifts to their pay:

a) The delayed DDRB payment for 2023/24, which was paid late (June 2024) and therefore this payment fell into the 2024/25 tax year. Whilst the amount of pay received was backdated to April 2023, this backdating did not extend to realigning pension growth calculations and this growth therefore was deemed to occur in 2024/25.

b) The revised consultant pay scale negotiated by the BMA on your behalf which was paid in January 2025 and backdated to 1st March 2024. This was also received in the 2024/25 tax year.

c) The DDRB payment for 2024/25, which was paid in March 2025 and backdated to 1st April 2024. This was also received in the 2024/25 tax year.


As a result of these uplifts all being paid in the same tax year, we are aware many consultants had considerable growth in their pensions and may have incurred a charge for breaching their annual allowance for pension growth. While some of this is appropriate and unavoidable due to the pay uplifts relating to 2024/25, the failure of the NI government to pay 2023/24 pay on time may have exacerbated this issue and resulted in consultants incurring tax bills that they would not have done had this been paid on time. This may occur in one of two ways – the additional pension growth relating to 2023/24 being considered to have occurred in 2024/25 and therefore breaching the AA or by the 2023/24 backpay causing consultants to exceed the threshold income for 2024/25.

This survey aims to quantify the extent of this so that it can help to inform our ongoing actions. You may find it helpful to have a copy of your Pension Savings Statements for both the 2023/24 and 2024/25 tax years to hand when completing this survey, or access to the HSC Pensions self service page for Annual Allowance. The survey is anonymous and should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete. Thank you for your contribution.
GDPR statement

The information in this survey is being collected to inform the BMA about annual allowance charges for consultants in Northern Ireland. Some demographic information may also be collected for monitoring purposes. Any data supplied will be viewed by BMA staff and, where appropriate, elected members. This data may include incomplete responses where the respondent has exited the survey before the final submission page. Data will be retained by the BMA for a period not exceeding 12 months post the closure of the survey, before final deletion. Individual identifiable data will not be shared with third parties. Anonymised or statistical data may be used publicly or shared with third parties. Participants should not provide personal data of any person unless they are specifically asked to do so. The BMA's privacy policy is available here. If you have any queries or concerns about this survey, please contact info.research@bma.org.uk

Question Title

* 1. Please confirm that you are a consultant working in Northern Ireland and a member of the HSC pension scheme during the 2024/25 tax year?

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