Before looking at how you access your retirement savings, here’s a summary of the benefits the Scheme provides:
- For service prior to 1 January 2008, you may be entitled to DB pension benefits.
- For service after 1 January 2008, you are entitled to DC pension benefits or Revalued Career Average Salary (RCAS) benefits, depending which option you selected when changes were introduced in 2008.
- For service from 16 April 2016, DC pension benefits only are provided
Depending on when you joined the Scheme, you may therefore have DC and DB pension benefits.
New employee
Your options at retirement will depend on your personal circumstances. If you want to access some of the more flexible options, you will need to transfer to a different pension product first as there is no facility for you to access your pension flexibly within the Scheme.
Review the Options at retirement section for more information.
Transferring will not be right for everyone. You might also want to seek appropriate guidance or advice before making any decisions.
Current employee - joined the Scheme on or after 1 April 2025
Taking a flexible income from your DC pension savings
Your options at retirement will depend on your personal circumstances. If you want to access some of the more flexible options, you will need to transfer to a different pension product first as there is no facility for you to access your pension flexibly within the Scheme.
Review the Options at retirement section for more information.
Transferring will not be right for everyone. You might also want to seek appropriate guidance or advice before making any decisions.
Current employee - joined the Scheme before 1 April 2025
Taking a flexible income from your DC pension savings
Your options at retirement will depend on your personal circumstances. If you want to access some of the more flexible options, you will need to transfer to a different pension product first as there is no facility for you to access your pension flexibly within the Scheme.
Transferring will not be right for everyone. You might also want to seek appropriate guidance or advice before making any decisions.
Options for members with DB pension benefits and DC pension savings
You are allowed to take a proportion of both your DB pension benefits and your DC pension savings as a tax-free cash sum. The maximum amount you can take free of tax is broadly 25% of your Scheme benefits.
In calculating the maximum amount of tax-free cash you can take, we can aggregate both your DB and DC benefits (the formula for calculating tax-free cash in respect of your DB benefits is slightly different).
This means that, in a lot of cases, members can take most, if not all, of their DC savings in one lump sum, tax-free.
If you have chosen to combine your DB benefits and DC savings to calculate the maximum tax-free cash, and you have cash in excess of the tax-free amount remaining, the extra can be:
- taken as a taxable lump sum
- used to buy an annuity
- transferred to a drawdown arrangement (but no more tax-free cash will be available from this drawdown).
Alternatively, you can use only your DB pension benefits to calculate tax-free cash. You can still take this tax-free cash from your DC savings any remaining DC savings (above the tax-free amount) can be:
- taken as a taxable lump sum
- used to buy an annuity, or
- transferred to a drawdown arrangement.
In this case, you can still take 25% tax-free cash from the drawdown arrangement.
Former employee - deferred Scheme member
Taking a flexible income from your DC pension savings
Your options at retirement will depend on your personal circumstances. If you want to access some of the more flexible options, you will need to transfer to a different pension product first as there is no facility for you to access your pension flexibly within the Scheme.
Transferring will not be right for everyone. You might also want to seek appropriate guidance or advice before making any decisions.
Transfer options for members with DB pension benefits and DC pension savings
You are allowed to take a proportion of both your DB pension benefits and your DC pension savings as a tax-free cash sum. The maximum amount you can take free of tax is broadly 25% of your Scheme benefits.
In calculating the maximum amount of tax-free cash you can take, we can aggregate both your DB and DC benefits (the formula for calculating tax-free cash in respect of your DB benefits is slightly different).
This means that, in a lot of cases, members can take most, if not all, of their DC savings in one lump sum, tax-free.
If you have chosen to combine your DB benefits and DC savings to calculate the maximum tax-free cash, and you have cash in excess of the tax-free amount remaining, the extra can be:
- taken as a taxable lump sum
- used to buy an annuity
- transferred to a drawdown arrangement (but no more tax-free cash will be available from this drawdown).
Alternatively, you can use only your DB pension benefits to calculate tax-free cash. You can still take this tax-free cash from your DC savings any remaining DC savings (above the tax-free amount) can be:
- taken as a taxable lump sum
- used to buy an annuity, or
- transferred to a drawdown arrangement.
In this case, you can still take 25% tax-free cash from the drawdown arrangement.
