PENSION LIAISON OFFICERS’ GROUP (PLOG)

Local Government Pension Scheme

18 & 19 September 2012

PENSION LIAISON OFFICERS’ GROUP (PLOG)

Presented by Andy Cunningham


Agenda

1. Welcome/Attendance

2. FRS17/ IAS 19

3. LGPS Reform 2014

4. LGPS Regulations Changes & Auto-enrolment

5. Performance Statistics, Administration Strategy & Pension Regulator

6. Pension Section Re-Structure


FRS17 / IAS 19 Reports

Catherine Dix – Fund Investment & Accounting Manager


Agenda

• What are they?• Do I need one?• What is the process?• Who do I contact?

2. FRS17/ IAS 29


• FRS 17/IAS 19 is an accounting standard

• The report assesses the Employers Pension Liabilities as at a certain date

• The report provides all the disclosures for your accountant to insert within your Annual Report

• FRS 17/IAS 19 is NOT the Triennial Valuation

2. FRS17/ IAS 29

What are they?


Do I need one?

• New employers need to liaise with their Auditors

• Wiltshire Pension Fund will contact you to confirm your requirements

• Assumptions for Report ultimate responsibility of Directors of your organisations

2. FRS17/ IAS 29


What is the process?

• Wiltshire Pension Fund commission the reports

• You are required to confirm:– Choice of report (FRS17 /IAS 19)– The accounting Basis (CIPFA, Stand FRS17, FReM)– Acknowledgement of Fee– Confirmation of Assumptions to be used– Acceptance of Terms of Engagement

2. FRS17/ IAS 29


Who Do I Contact?

• Catherine Dix ([email protected])– Tel 01225 713698

• Mark Anderson ([email protected])– Tel 01225 718299

2. FRS17/ IAS 29


3. LGPS Reform 2014

a). Background• Government asked Lord Hutton to review all Public Sector Pension

Schemes

• Hutton produced a report last year and made a number of recommendations

• Recommendations accepted by the Government

• Government released details of a proposed LGPS scheme, which has now been largely accepted by the Unions

• New Regulations due by 31st March 2013, which will apply from 1 April 2014

• Main details available now but the exact arrangements of the 2014 Scheme will not be available until the Regulations are finalised.


3. LGPS Reform 2014

b). Current Proposals (in Brief)• Change to Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) Scheme

• New Accrual rate of 1/49ths

• ‘Underpin’ Protection for those within 10 years of retirement

• Employee Contribution Bands to remain but to be based on actual earnings rather FTE Salaries in future.

• Contribution Rates to increase for higher earners

• Scheme Retirement Age to match State Retirement Age.

• Return to 2 year vesting period (amount of time allowed up to which someone can have refund of employee contributions if they opt out)

• 50/50 Scheme (half the contributions, half the benefits)

• Overtime included in pay and for service calculation


3. LGPS Reform 2014

c). Impact on Employers Administration & Payroll

• Payroll systems will need to be changed to allow for changes to the employee contribution rates (using actual salaries + different bands)

• Accurate End of year reporting will become very important as each years figure will form part of the pension calculation.

• Pension Forms will change – more final pay calculations likely

• More refunds over tax year ends.

• Changes to discretion policies and related HR policies

• 50/50 Scheme will provide extra payroll and administrative complication

• Change in definition of pensionable pay


3. LGPS Reform 2014

c). Impact on Employers Finance

• It is anticipated that in the short-term, the Scheme will not be any cheaper (partly due to the protection) but in the long-term there should be some modest savings (but less than originally anticipated!)

• Regulations due by 31 March 2013, so that actuaries can take into the changes when considering new employer contribution rates as apart of the 2013 Valuation.


3. LGPS Reform 2014

d). Impact on MembersShort-term

• Changes to employee contribution rates will be favourable for part-time workers but more costly for higher earners.

Longer-term

• Changes to benefit package (changes generally benefits those with a more modest career progression in terms of salaries but not those with larger salary increases over time)


3. LGPS Reform 2014

What’s next?Once full details are available about the new scheme in Spring 2014, the Pension Fund will review its procedures and begin increasing member and employer communications in preparation for the new start date

In the meantime, further information about the reforms can be found on our website.



a). LGPS Regulation ChangesScheduled Bodies:

• Staff with a contract of three months or less, or no contract at all, are now eligible.

• Changes apply with effect from 1 October 2012

• Need to communicate this to current and future casuals

Resolution/Designating Bodies:

• Staff with a contract of three months or less, or no contract at all, are now eligible.

• All new ‘designated’ employees (with a contract of 3 months or more) need to be auto-enrolled with effect from 1 October 2012.

• May need to pass a new resolution to clarify which roles are designated and to bring in-line with the changes



a). LGPS Regulation Changes (continued)Admitted Bodies:

• For contracts that will apply from 1 October 2012, all TUPE transferring staff will need to be auto-enrolled into the LGPS from the transfer date (even if they opted out prior to transfer)



b). Auto-enrolment

In brief:

• All employers will need to comply with Auto-enrolment legislation by their staging date

• Staging dates are decided by PAYE size. Applies to the largest organisation from October 2012, smaller organisations over the next few years up to 2017.

• Pension Regulator has large amounts of information on-line and will be responsible for ensuring compliance (through warning notices/large fines etc)

• Basic requirement is to auto-enrol ‘eligible jobholders’ into a ‘qualifying scheme’ (such as the LGPS) by each employer’s staging date.



b). Auto-enrolment

Further information

• The legislation is complex – so you will need to look into it properly

• Involves relatively large amounts of administration (sending out letters, monitoring changes in ages and salaries)

Actions Required now

• Find out your staging date

• Allow at least several months prior to your staging date to ensure that your have the necessary arrangements in place to ensure your are compliant.



Administration Strategy

Some Key Employer Targets

Retirement Forms – to be received at least 15 working days before the person’s retirement date

Starter, Change & Leaver Forms – to be received within 25 working days of the date of the person starting/changing/leavers.

Note: It is useful if you can clarify with anyone who leaves, and is aged over 60, whether or not they wish to draw their pension at that time.



Pension Regulator

New Compliance Requirements for Dec 2012Requirement for ‘common data’

•For new data created after June 2010 – 100% accuracy.•For legacy data (created before June 2010) – 95% accuracy

‘Common Data’ includes: NI Numbers, Addresses, Names etc

Furthermore, this includes having all members set up or set as leavers etc on our system.

Failure to comply could result in fines from the Regulator (to us)



Performance Statistics

Our procedures and systems have changed and we are again recording

figures to identify areas where employers and the Fund can improve their service to members.

In August (across all employers) – forms received in the target time

Retirements: 42%

Leavers: 20%

Starters: 26%

Changes: 22%

Local Government Pension SchemeWiltshire Pension Fund – New Structure


Any Questions?

Documents

PENSION LIAISON OFFICERS’ GROUP (PLOG)