Employer Focus - April 2019
This bulletin from the Staffordshire Pension Fund, focuses on current issues that you should be aware of relating to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
If you wish to print out this information, please select the document below:
Our next employer training day will be held on Tuesday 25 June 2019, in County Buildings in Stafford. Please put this date in your diary. We are aiming to make it a valuable training event for any Payroll and HR staff that deal with pension issues.
ach employer will be able to send up to 5 representatives, however, if the numbers get too high, we may ask employers to reduce the number of attendees. Further details will be provided shortly, including how you can book places for this event.
A calendar invite will be sent to the main contacts we hold on our database. Alternatively, you can contact our Communication Officer to book any places you require
Consultation period: 10 April to 3 July 2019
You will recall from a previous Fund communication, the government plans to introduce a £95,000 (£95K) cap to exit payments for public sector bodies. The original government proposals were issued in summer 2015 and, finally, on 10 April this year the government announced a final consultation which closed on 3 July 2019.
Who does this affect?
This affects most public sector employers in the Local Government Pension Scheme and has relevance for:
- councils (whether metropolitan, county, district, borough or parish)
- police
- fire authorities
- academies
What is the exit payment cap?
The cap limits the exit payments that can be made to employees of public sector bodies. The proposed cap of £95,000 would cover the total value of exit payments (before tax) made by an employer. It will include the strain cost of early payment of pension and redundancy payments, plus any other compensation or severance payments (e.g. pay in lieu of notice, enhanced employer compensation lump sum payments etc.).
Benefits relating to ill-health retirement are not affected by the cap.
The government's consultation and summary (see the 2019 section), sets out in detail how the proposed changes will be implemented and the impact they will have on public sector bodies and their employees.
Please note: Staffordshire Pension Fund are assessing the impact the consultation will have on the LGPS. We will issue a response by 3 July 2019. Employers should assess the impact the proposed changes will have on their own organisation and consider submitting their own written response to the consultation by 3 July 2019.
Consultation period closed on 21 May 2019.
We have recently reviewed and updated the administration strategy, which is now open for consultation with our employers.
The aim of this strategy is to set out the requirements for liaison and communication between employers and the Fund. This will ensure regulatory compliance is achieved and best value service standards are delivered to scheme members and other parties, to meet their statutory obligations.
The strategy also seeks to promote good working relationships, improve efficiency and ensure agreed standards of quality in delivery of the pensions administration service amongst the employers and the Fund.
Please see the draft administration strategy.
The factors used to calculate the cost of purchasing additional pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme, changed on the 1 April 2019.
We have identified all the ongoing additional pension contracts which have an end date after 31 March 2019 and will calculate the revised contributions due based on the factors published in March 2019.
We will inform all employers of the revised additional contributions payable from 1 April 2019 and contact any scheme members affected by this change.
Please note: we are unable to guarantee we will be able to provide you with details of the revised contributions payable prior to the April payroll and therefore some adjustments may be required.
In our last newsletter, we mentioned that the term of office of the current members of the Local Pensions Board is due to come to an end in the autumn of 2019.
We are looking for expressions of interest from both employers and individual scheme members who might be interested in standing for election to the Local Pensions Board, as a representative.
We are particularly looking for:
- a representative from one of our larger employers or an academy or education establishment
- another representative who is an active or deferred member of the Fund.
The role of the Local Pensions Board is to assist the scheme manager (the county council) to secure compliance with the LGPS regulations and help to ensure the effective and efficient governance and administration of the LGPS, for the Fund and its members.
The board meets quarterly, and all meetings are open to the public. The agendas and minutes of the meetings are published by Staffordshire County Council on its website.
We have had a few expressions of interest but, given the Easter break, have decided to extend the closing date for expressions of interest until the end of May 2019.
If you are interested in putting yourself or your organisation forward or perhaps you have a colleague who might be just what the Local Pension Board is looking for then please email our Communication Officer, Martin Griffiths:
There is no need to contact us again, if you have already expressed an interest. We will contact you at the start of June along with any other applications we receive.
If you require any further information or clarification, please do not hesitate to get in touch: