The disclosure means the fallout from the unlawful pension reforms exposed by the landmark McCloud court ruling will continue until the middle of 2028, almost a decade after the changes that sparked the controversy.

It comes despite assurances from the SPPA that work was progressing towards completion, with the previous expectation it would extend into 2027.

At the end of October the First Minister confirmed that the bulk of the work to end the delayed pension remedies scandal would continue to the end of 2026.

The Herald previously revealed how a pensioners’ group threatened legal action over failures to provide remedies to thousands of public sector workers. The Pensions Ombudsman is also examining multiple complaints over the delays.

The McCloud Remedy followed a court ruling that the UK Government unlawfully discriminated against younger public sector workers through pension reforms introduced in 2015. Pension schemes have since had to recalculate benefits so eligible members can choose the pension that leaves them better off for the period between April 2015 and March 2022.

Some pensioners are waiting for payments worth tens of thousands of pounds.

The agency’s chief executive Stephen Pathirana confirmed that it had notified the Pensions Regulator that it wanted to extend the deadline for Remedy delivery to the end of July 2028.

He said: “While we remain confident about our sustained progress towards completion, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my apologies to members still awaiting their Remedial Service Statements. I understand how frustrating this will be for many.”

In March the agency told MSPs it “remain[s] mainly on track to meet these timelines for completion” after saying the majority of NHS cases would be completed by the end of 2026, with work extending into 2027. Now it is confirmed the NHS deadline has slipped to the end of July 2028.

Retired police superintendent Martin Gallagher, who coordinates the Job’s Forgotten group campaigning for the pension remedies said it was a “national disgrace”.

Martin Gallagher

He added: “The SPPA has completely failed to meet their statutory responsibilities in respect of the McLeod remedy.

“Up until 31 March 2025, the statutory deadline for providing pensioners with their funds, the SPPA insisted there was no issue.

“They missed that deadline, and have gone on missing every deadline they have set for themselves since.

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“Meanwhile tens of thousands of those who gave everything for Scotland’s communities remain significantly out of pocket, altering retirement plans and not living the lives they deserve to have after their service.”

SPPA chief Stephen Pathirana.

The latest figures show retired police members are the furthest advanced, with 93.1% of remedy statements issued and the remaining cases expected to be completed during September. Progress elsewhere is slower, with firefighters’ schemes 63.6% complete, teachers’ 24.2% complete and the NHS scheme 37% complete.

The SPPA said it was working with colleagues in NHS England and Wales to address “common delivery challenges”, adding that performance in Scotland was “in line with, or slightly ahead of” England and Wales.

The agency said: “Across all Remedy projects, delivery continues to progress broadly in line with the plans we have communicated.” It added: “We remain mainly on track to meet these timelines for completion.”

The SPPA missed the statutory deadline of March 31 for issuing remedy statements. Campaigners say the delays have left retired workers waiting for pension payments while costing taxpayers millions of pounds in interest. By the deadline, only around a third of those affected had been processed, with police pensioners alone receiving around £4m in interest payments.

An SPPA spokesman said the move to July 2028 for the NHS scheme had previously been communicated because of the scale and complexity of the work. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We understand the concerns raised by individuals impacted by this situation. The McCloud Remedy is a UK-wide programme of exceptional scale and complexity, and the UK Government’s original statutory timelines underestimated the challenge.”