{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/national-health-service-pension-scheme-regulations-2008/regulation-2.M.2",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/national-health-service-pension-scheme-regulations-2008/regulation-2.M.2.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2008/653",
  "legislation_title": "The National Health Service Pension Scheme Regulations 2008",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/national-health-service-pension-scheme-regulations-2008",
  "path": "regulation/2.M.2",
  "kind": "regulation",
  "number": "2.M.2",
  "heading": "IP Guarantees",
  "text": "(1) The Secretary of State may, as a condition of granting an Independent Provider employing authority status pursuant to an approval application, require that Independent Provider to provide an IP guarantee.\n(2) The Secretary of State may at any time require an Independent Provider that has been granted employing authority status to provide an IP guarantee.\n(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs (1) and (2), the Secretary of State may, in particular, require an Independent Provider to provide an IP guarantee if—\n(a) that Independent Provider has, after being approved as an employing authority pursuant to this Chapter, failed to meet any of its liabilities under these Regulations as an employing authority;\n(b) that Independent Provider has, before being approved as an employing authority pursuant to this Chapter, previously failed to meet any of those liabilities in any other capacity as an employing authority;\n(c) the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe that the Independent Provider is unable, or is likely to become unable, to meet any of those liabilities.\n(4) Where the Secretary of State requires an Independent Provider to provide an IP guarantee the Secretary of State must require that guarantee to—\n(a) guarantee payment to the Secretary of State of the required level of cover: such a guarantee must take effect on the date on which approval under this Chapter takes effect;\n(b) be in a form approved by the Secretary of State from time to time;\n(c) be underwritten by one or more bodies satisfactory to the Secretary of State.\nBut the Secretary of State may exceptionally specify that a guarantee is to meet other requirements.\n(5) Where an Independent Provider is required to provide an IP guarantee and has been granted employing authority status in respect of more than one qualifying contract, the required level of cover applies to each of those contracts and may be guaranteed by one or more IP guarantee.\n(6) In order to ensure that the required level of cover continues to be guaranteed by its extant IP guarantees, those guarantees must be reviewed by the Independent Provider—\n(a) no later than 1 month prior to the start of a scheme year;\n(b) no later than 1 month after the date on which it was granted employing authority status;\n(c) no later than 1 month before the date on which they are expressed to cease to have effect (where that is not the start of a scheme year);\n(d) whenever it becomes a party to another qualifying contract;\n(e) immediately whenever it reasonably believes that its estimated contribution liability pursuant to regulations 2.C.1, 2.C.5, 2.C.6, 2.C.8, 2.C.10 or 2.C.11 has increased, or may increase, by more than 10%;\n(f) upon the Secretary of State notifying it in writing that the Secretary of State considers that the sum guaranteed by those guarantees does not, at least, equal the required level of cover.\n(7) Where paragraph (6)(e) applies, and the Independent Provider determines that the amount of cover currently provided by its extant IP guarantee(or guarantees where it has more than one) does not equal the required level of cover in respect of all of its qualifying contracts, it must within 14 days of that determination either—\n(a) increase the amount of cover provided by its guarantee or guarantees so that it is at least equal to the required level of cover and notify the Secretary of State in writing of it having done so; or\n(b) take out one or more further IP guarantees for the amount by which the required level of cover has increased and notify the Secretary of State in writing of it having done so.\n(8) Where paragraph (6)(f) applies, and the Independent Provider determines that the amount of cover currently provided by its IP guarantee or guarantees remains at least equal to the required level of cover in respect of all of its qualifying contracts, it shall—\n(a) notify the Secretary of State in writing of that fact within 14 days of its determination, and\n(b) provide the Secretary of State with such information in that regard as the Secretary of State may require from time to time.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Ch. 2.M inserted (1.4.2014) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/570), regs. 1(2), 35 (with reg. 49)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/653/regulation/2.M.2",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T03:34:22.381913+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}