LegalizeThe Health and Social Care Pension Scheme (Member Contributions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
Made: 6th February 2026
Coming into operation: 2nd March 2026
In accordance with Article 12(1) of the 1972 Order and section 3(5) of the 2014 Act, these Regulations are made with the consent of the Department of Finance.
Citation, commencement and effect
1
These Regulations may be cited as the Health and Social Care Pension Scheme (Member Contributions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026.
2
These Regulations come into operation on 2nd March 2026 and will have retrospective effect from 1st April 2025.
Amendment to the Health and Social Care Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
3
- (1) The Health and Social Care Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015[^f00003] are amended as follows.
- (2) In regulation 30 (members’ contributions: employees)[^f00004]—
- (a) in paragraph (3), for the table substitute—
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| Pensionable earnings band | Contribution percentage rate |
| Up to £13,259 | 5.20% |
| £13,260 to £27,797 | 6.70% |
| £27,798 to £33,868 | 8.50% |
| £33,869 to £50,845 | 10.00% |
| £50,846 to £65,190 | 10.90% |
| £65,191 and above | 12.70% |
- (3) In paragraph (3A)—
- (a) for the table substitute—
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| Pensionable earnings band | Contribution percentage rate |
| Up to £13,259 | 5.20% |
| £13,260 to £27,797 | 6.70% |
| £27,798 to £33,868 | 8.50% |
| £33,869 to £50,845 | 10.00% |
| £50,846 to £65,190 | 10.90% |
| £65,191 and above | 12.70% |
- (4) In paragraph (7), for “2025/26” substitute “2026/27”.
- (5) In paragraph (8)(d), for “2025” substitute “2026”.
Amendment of regulation 31
4
In regulation 31 (members’ contributions: practitioners and non-GP providers)[^f00005]—
- (a) for table 4 substitute—
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| Pensionable earnings band | Contribution percentage rate |
| Up to £13,259 | 5.20% |
| £13,260 to £27,797 | 6.70% |
| £27,798 to £33,868 | 8.50% |
| £33,869 to £50,845 | 10.00% |
| £50,846 to £65,190 | 10.90% |
| £65,191 and above | 12.70% |
- (2) In paragraph (11), for “2025/26” substitute “2026/27”.
- (3) In paragraph (12)(d), for “2025” substitute “2026”.
Signed
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health on 6th February 2026.
Philip Rodgers — A senior officer of the Department of Health
The Department of Finance consents to the foregoing Regulations.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance on 6th February 2026.
Patrick Neeson — A senior officer of the Department of Finance
Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
EXPLANATORY NOTE
These Regulations amend the Health and Social Care Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (S.R. 2015 No. 120) (“the 2015 Regulations”).
Regulation 2 amends the 2015 Regulations to update the pensionable earnings bands that determine a member’s contribution rate for the 2025/26 scheme year.
Regulation 3 amends regulation 30 (members’ contributions: employees) to update the pensionable earnings bands used to determine member contribution rates for scheme years 2025/26 to 2027/28, for employees.
Regulation 4 amends regulation 31 (members’ contributions: practitioners and non-GP providers) to update the pensionable earnings bands used to determine member contribution rates for scheme years 2025/26 to 2027/28, for practitioners and non-GP providers.
These Regulations come into operation on 2nd March 2026 and have effect retrospectively from 1st April 2025.
Article 14 (1) of the Superannuation (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 and section 3(3)(b) of the Public Service Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) [2014 (c. 2)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/2) provide that Scheme Regulations may make retrospective provision.
A full impact assessment has not been produced for this statutory rule as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary of public sector is foreseen.
Footnotes
[^f00001]: 1972 N.I 10 Section 12(1) was amended by sections 32 and 34(3) and Schedule 6 of the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009 and section 37(2) of the Public Service Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.
[^f00002]: 2014 c. 2Section 3(1) and (2) were amended by section 94(2) and (3) of the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 (c.7).
[^f00003]: S.R. 2015 No.120.
[^f00004]: Regulation 30 was amended by S.R. 2019 No.62, S.R. 2022 No. 244 and S.R. 2023 No.23.
[^f00005]: Regulation 31 is amended by S.R. 2019 No.62, S.R. 2022 No.33, S.R. 2022 No.244., S.R. 2024 No.116 & S.R. 2024 No 117.
Editorial notes
[^key-0d0db65c67bb6dfe336598f20f83d381]: Reg. 1 in operation at 2.3.2026 with effect from 01/04/2025, see reg. 2
[^key-94f8de1bdd84bca21370bfe987c4141d]: Reg. 2 in operation at 2.3.2026 with effect from 01/04/2025, see reg. 2
[^key-b5869d877a8131a353e38f3bc5570547]: Reg. 3 in operation at 2.3.2026 with effect from 01/04/2025, see reg. 2
[^key-e334241274c61a1a42d3d9828aec5d9f]: Reg. 4 in operation at 2.3.2026 with effect from 01/04/2025, see reg. 2
Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published on legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original CLML XML to this format.