FOI reference - FOI-264
Date - 4 June 2024
Request
I would like to make a FOI request to discover who are the trustees of the Standard Life NHS Group AVC.
I have recently tried accessing my NHS AVC with Standard Life and it seems the conditions relating to my plan have changed significantly but without informing me or consulting with me.
Standard Life can seemingly only tell me the conditions have been changed by ‘The NHS’ and is nothing to do with them but they cannot (or will not) tell me exactly which body has made the changes.
When I contact the NHS pensions agency they just refer me back to Standard Life, and now I wish to know who is controlling and seemingly making major changes to my pension (NHS Group AVC Standard Life).
Response
As we have been given strong powers to demand documents and other information from trustees, employers and others, those powers are also balanced by restrictions on how we disclose the information provided to us. The type of information you have requested would be ‘restricted information’. Restricted information is defined at section 82(4) of the Pensions Act 2004 (PA04) as:
‘…information obtained by the Regulator in the exercise of its functions which relates to the business or other affairs of any person’.
Under section 82(5) of the PA04 it is a criminal offence to disclose such information except as permitted under that Act.
Whilst the FoIA is based on the presumption of releasing information, section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA provides an absolute exemption to the requirement to disclose any information if its disclosure is prohibited by or under any enactment. In this case, section 82 of the PA04 prohibits disclosure and we are unable to disclose the requested information. This exemption is absolute and does not require a public interest assessment be undertaken.
Duty to provide further assistance
You can reach out to them directly via any of the methods outlined here:
- https://workplace.standardlifepensions.com/nhsgavc/contact
- https://www.standardlife.co.uk/help/general
You can also raise your dissatisfaction by raising a complaint with Standard Life.
If you have already raised your concerns as a complaint and you are dissatisfied with how it has been handled, you can contact The Pensions Ombudsman who may be able to assist you further. Please note, they will only be able to do so once Standard Life investigates your complaint, provides you with their response and the complaints process is exhausted.