Pension Administration Strategy Employer Forum November 2015 Debra - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Pension Administration Strategy Employer Forum November 2015 Debra Keeling Member Services Manager

Aims and Objectives • Detail requirements for liaison and communication between employers and NPF • Establish minimum levels of performance • Promote good working relationships, improve transparency, efficiency and quality of data • Fair apportioning of administration costs across all employers • Provide a good quality, efficient and value for money service to all stakeholders

Statutory Basis Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 Regulation 59 • An administering authority MAY prepare a written statement of the authority’s policies in relation to such matters….as it considers appropriate (“its pension administration strategy”) (PAS) • MUST consult with employers and other stakeholders (e.g. third party payroll providers) when preparing the PAS • Keep the PAS under review

Statutory Basis Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 Regulation 59 – Pension Administration Strategy Regulation 70 – Additional Costs arising from Scheme Employer’s Level of Performance Regulation 71 – Interest on Late Payments by Scheme Employers Regulation 80 – Exchange of Information Other relevant legislation Pensions Regulator’s “Code of Practice” Number 14: “Governance and Administration of Public Sector Pension Schemes” Data Protection Act Pensions Acts Finance Acts Occupational Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations

Supporting Employers New Employers Appropriate support and training including online services for staff who will deal with pensions G001 - Employer Handbook G080 - Prospective Employer Guide All Employers Newsletters Employer Forum Employer Training Events Employer Guides Policy and Strategy Documents

Employer Main Responsibilities 1 Function / Task Performance Expectation / Target Provide details to NPF of a person to be the Notify NPF 1 month before a new employer main point of contact for LGPS pension joins the scheme. matters (the Pensions Liaison Officer – PLO) Notify NPF within 1 week of any change to the PLO Ensure that the PLO has access to Within 1 week of being notified by NPF that PensionsWeb (secure website) an account has been set up PLO should ensure that contact details are Update the relevant details within 1 week maintained on PensionsWeb for all relevant of any changes staff of the employer including “online users” Publish a Pensions Policy Statement and Within 1 month of employer joining the send a copy to NPF fund or within 1 month of any changes to the policy Nominate an adjudicator for disputes Within 1 month of employer joining the fund or within 1 month of any changes Nominated representative(s) attend Attendance at such events Employer Training Events, Employer Forum, Employer Briefing held by NPF Respond to enquiries from NPF Within 10 days of the enquiry or such other timescale requested by NPF Distribute information provided by NPF for Within 10 days of being provided with the information of active scheme members information

Employer Main Responsibilities 2 Implement correct or amended Employer From the appropriate date notified by NPF Contribution Rate or monthly deficit payment By date shown on SR71 forms (e.g. 7 th or Pay over monthly employee and 15 th (or earlier working day) of the month contributions to NPF by BACS or similar electronic method and provision of SR71 following the deduction of employee form contributions) By 15 th (or earlier working day) of the Pay over monthly employee AVC contributions to the relevant AVC provider month following the deduction of by BACS or similar electronic method employee contributions Make payment of invoices issued by NPF Within 30 days of the date of the invoice in respect of additional employer contributions, missing employee contributions, early retirement strain, early retirement compensation payments, or additional costs associated with non- compliance of the PAS Remit the Annual Contribution Return to By 30 April following 31 March year end NPF in required format Notify NPF of any contracting out of As soon as possible. Preferably up to 6 services/outsourcing etc. involves a TUPE months before any such event transfer of staff Issue New Member Packs to new or Preferably before employment begins, but prospective scheme members within 1 month of starting

Employer Main Responsibilities 3 Deduct appropriate amount of employee From next available payroll contributions from employees pay including additional contributions as notified by NPF or AVC provider Maintain individual (unique) reference (e.g. Include this reference on all notifications payroll reference or job reference) for each and correspondence to NPF separate job an individual has. So that separate pension accounts can be identified and maintained for each. Notify NPF of new joiners. Including Within 1 month of joining additional jobs for existing members Notify NPF of relevant changes to members Within 1 month of the change circumstances (name, address, part-time hours, break in service) Early notification to NPF of forthcoming 1 month before date of retirement (where retirements possible – i.e. notice given by employee or employer) Notification to NPF of death of active Within 2 days of the event member including details of spouse, next of kin etc. by telephone Notify NPF of any leavers, retirements, Within 1 month of the event to include all deaths, opt outs relevant paperwork and certificates

Notifying NPF • All information supplied to us MUST be in one of the prescribed formats (using the appropriate form etc) • We currently offer several channels for Employers to provide information to us • Multi-channel approach not efficient (especially during periods of change) • Move to online (where facility exists) only from 1 October 2016 Forms requiring third part completion that cannot currently be catered for directly online: • New Member Form (completed by scheme member) • Opt Out Notification (part completed by the scheme member) • Il Health Certificate (completed by the Medical Advisor) However, completed versions of all these forms can be scanned by the employer and uploaded to the secure online facility.

Employer Performance Monitoring NPF will look to work closely with employers identifying areas of poor performance to ensure the necessary training and development are undertaken in order to address any shortcomings.

NPF Headline Responsibilities Function / Task Performance Expectation / Target Provide Transfer In Quotes to scheme Within 10 working days of receipt of member request and all information required Provide Transfer Out Quotes to scheme Within 10 working days of receipt of member request and all information required Within 5 working days of receipt of Make Refund Payments to scheme member request and all information required Provide Estimate of Retirement Benefits in Within 10 working days of receipt of respect of scheme member request and all information required Calculate and Notify scheme member of Within 5 working days of receipt of Actual Retirement Benefits request and all information required Within 5 working days of receipt of Acknowledge Death of Member request and all information required Within 5 working days of receipt of Notify Dependants’ Benefits request and all information required Within 10 working days of receipt of Notify Deferred Benefits request and all information required Within 5 working days of receipt of Response to general member enquiries request and all information required On or before last banking day of each Make Monthly Pension Payments month Issue Annual Benefit Statements By 31 August following year end

NPF Performance Monitoring • NPF carries out continual performance monitoring against its performance targets. • These are measured against our peers in an annual benchmarking exercise which is reported to employers, the pensions committee and details included in NPF annual report.

Policy on Recharging Employers with Other Charges or Obligations • Any fines, fees or other charges made on NPF but which relate to performance of the employer (e.g. by Pensions Ombudsman, the Pensions Regulator or other regulatory bodies) will be recharged to the employer. • Interest on late payment of contributions as defined in the Local Government Pension Scheme will be charged to the employer in addition to an administration fee.

Feedback and Next Steps • Please give feedback to us today • After today feedback to Mark Alexander (mark.r.alexander@norfolk.gov.uk) or telephone 01603 495781 by 31 December 2015 • Final draft will be issued to employers in the New Year • Report for Pensions Committee 23 February 2016 • Pension Administration Strategy Live – April 2016