SPRING ISSUE> ISSUE 14 IN THIS. Amerton Railway

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1 ISSUE 14 A Newsletter for retired members of the Local Government Pension Scheme participating in the Staffordshire Pension Fund IN THIS ISSUE> 4 Changing your bank 5Data Matching 8 Amerton Railway SPRING 2016

2 Welcome Hello and welcome to this latest edition of InContact, the Staffordshire Pension Fund s newsletter for our retired members. On our website, we informed you that from 2016 we have taken the decision to publish InContact just once a year. As always, we have tried to include articles that we think you will find interesting and useful. Let us know what you think so we can continue to improve this newsletter. We have important news about your Pension Increase this year, so please refer to our article on page 3. As usual a payslip will be provided for all our retired members in April, and your P60 will be issued shortly afterwards. Each year the Staffordshire Pension Fund is required to produce an Annual Report including a statement of accounts. This document is 02 Contents 03 GMP 03 Pension Increase for Changing your bank? 04 When is my pension paid? 05 Data Matching subject to auditing to ensure the accuracy of the contents and compliance with statutory requirements and proper accounting practices. The annual report includes the accounts and links to our published policies as well as information on the investment performance of the Fund. Our Report for 2014/2015, along with previous years reports, are accessible via the Pension Fund website at Janet Caiazzo Janet Caiazzo Pension Manager 06 Would you be interested...? 07 Amerton Railway 08 National Insurance Database 10 State Pension Changes GMP (If you were State Pension age before 5 April 2016) The Local Government Pension Scheme is currently a contracted-out Pension Scheme. This means that when you were working, you paid a lower amount of National Insurance contributions than someone doing exactly the same job as you, but who wasn t paying into the Scheme. This is because you were only paying for your Basic State Pension and not paying for the Additional State Pension (between 6th April 1978 to 5th April 1997 this was called The State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS)). If you were a member of the scheme between 6th April 1978 and 5th April 1997, Staffordshire Pension Fund must guarantee that when you reach State Pension Age your local government pension is at least equal to the Additional Pension you would have received with the State Retirement Pension if you had been in the State Second Pension or SERPS. This rate is known as the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP). You may have been notified Pension Increase for 2016 If you have received this newsletter from us in the past you will be aware that we normally include an article about the increase that will be applied to your Local Government Pension in the April of that year. This year, however, public sector pensions will not receive any increase. This is because the Consumer Price index (CPI) for the month of September, which determines the pension increase for the following April, was negative. of this amount by HM Revenue and Customs under the title Contracted Out Deduction or Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE). Most of the time, the pension we pay is larger than the GMP, but in a very few cases (especially where a member did a lot of non contractual overtime) the GMP may be larger than Staffordshire Pension Fund s payment. If the GMP is larger, then Staffordshire Pension Fund will increase the pension we pay to match the rate of the GMP. A GMP consists of two elements, one in respect of any scheme membership between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1988 (Pre 1988), the other in respect of any scheme membership between 6 April 1988 and 5 April 1997 (Post 1988). The GMP is paid as part of your pension benefits, not as an addition. The application of GMP to your pension benefits means that Pensions Increase (inflation proofing) will be added to your pension benefits in a slightly different way. Staffordshire County Council is responsible for full Pensions Increase on the Pension excluding the GMP elements, and is responsible for a maximum of 3% Pensions Increase on the part of your GMP which built up after 06 April Any Pensions Increase above 3% on the Post 1988 GMP and the whole of the Pre 1988 GMP is the responsibility of the State, and should be paid to you as part of your State Pension benefits. If you retired prior to 1 April 2015, your pension will not reduce as a result of the negative CPI figure. If however, you retired after this date we are currently waiting for notification from the Government as to whether the care pension you built up needs to be adjusted. We are however, not expecting their decision to impact on the current value of your pension. 03

3 Changing your bank? Please let us know if your bank details change, as your bank or building society may not tell us! Unfortunately we can t take a change in bank details over the phone as we like to get your signature when you tell us. You will need to write in, our contact details are on the back page of this newsletter. Please remember to sign your notification. We usually run our pensions payroll around the middle of the month, so tell us about any changes in good time or it may be too late to be actioned until the following month. If you don t inform us in time and the payment is returned, future pension payments will be suspended. Data Matching Staffordshire County Council is required by law to protect the public funds it administers. It may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing, or administering public funds, or where undertaking a public function, in order to prevent and detect fraud. Your Staffordshire Pension is paid into your chosen bank or building society at the end of each month. This will appear as a credit in your account from SPF or SCCP Your pension payment dates for the next 12 months are shown on the right: When is my pension paid?! MONTH! APRIL 2016 MAY 2016 JUNE 2016 JULY 2016 AUGUST 2016 SEPTEMBER 2016 OCTOBER 2016 NOVEMBER 2016 DECEMBER 2016 JANUARY 2017 FEBRUARY 2017 MARCH 2017 PAY DATE The Cabinet Office is responsible for carrying out data matching exercises. Data matching involves comparing computer records held by one body against other computer records held by the same or another body to see how far they match. This is usually personal information, including contact details. Computerised data matching allows potentially fraudulent claims and payments to be identified. Where a match is found it may indicate that there is an inconsistency which requires further investigation. No assumption can be made as to whether there is fraud, error or other explanation until an investigation is carried out. We participate in the Cabinet Office s National Fraud Initiative: a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. Such an exercise will commence this autumn and continue during the spring of We are required to provide particular sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise, as detailed here uk/government/collections/national-fraudinitiative) The use of data by the Cabinet Office in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under its powers in Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a Code of Practice. This may be found at ( publications/code-of-data-matchingpractice-for-national-fraud-initiative) View further information on the Cabinet Office s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information ( fair-processing-national-fraud-initiative/ fair-processing-level-3-full-text). For further information on data matching at this authority contact Steven Parsons, Internal Audit Section on Stafford (01785) or by at steve.parsons@ staffordshire.gov.uk 04 05

4 Would you be interested in standing as the pensioner representative on the Pension Committee? Following the announcement that Eric Shaw will be standing down from his role as the Pensioner Representative on our Committee we are looking for expressions of interest to fill the vacant post. As a statutory pension scheme the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) does not have trustees as such. Decisions are required to be made by each Administering Authority, which in the case of the Staffordshire Pension Fund is Staffordshire County Council. The decision making process is carried out via the Pensions Committee and Pensions Panel. The elected Members who sit on the Pension Committee act on behalf of the beneficiaries of the LGPS and, in this way, have a similar role to trustees in protecting the benefits of the LGPS members. As well as the elected members, the Pensions Committee also has co-opted members. Coopted members represent the Pensions Consultative Forum, which is made up of representatives from all organisations that are members of the Fund. The co-opted members cannot vote at meetings but do make a valuable contribution in their representation. One member is from a trade union and represents employees, two are from other employers, and one represents pensioners. It is this post that has become vacant. Meetings are held on a quarterly basis, which you would be expected to attend in order to represent the views of our retired members. Quite often queries are forwarded to the Pensioner Representative from retired members that would require addressing; these are normally directed to the Pensioner Representative by the Pension Team. During the year training sessions are also run for Committee members, which you would be expected to attend. This a very rewarding and interesting role and if you feel you would like to discuss the post further, please feel free to contact Martin Griffiths, our Pension Communication Officer, or write into us with details of why you feel you could successfully represent the interests of the Staffordshire Pension Fund s retired members. The closing date for registering your interest is 31 May Please contact martin.griffiths@staffordshire.gov.uk (01785) Amerton Railway...a hidden gem! By Peter Calvert : Volunteer Liaison Officer (Retired LGPS Member) A 2 foot gauge railway at Stowe-by-Chartley dedicated to the preservation of narrow gauge railway engines and stock built in Staffordshire and operated by Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway, a registered charity. The Railway was built by a group of volunteers on a greenfield site next to Amerton Farm and Craft Centre from 1990, with the first train operating over a quarter mile line in mid This was extended to the Chartley Road passing loop in 2000 and a circular route back to Amerton Station was completed in December 2001, giving the 0.8 mile journey that exists today. Since 2006 we have had a modern works building to undertake restoration work. The Railway s buildings are modelled on narrow gauge prototypes but we have a waiting room from Chartley Station on the Stafford to Uttoxeter Railway that closed in the 1950 s and the signal box from Waterhouses that was the transfer point between the standard gauge railway from Stoke and the narrow gauge Leek & Manifold Railway that closed in the 1930 s was a big year for the Railway as the land we operate on was put up for sale but by generous donations and loans from members and by raising a mortgage we were able to buy it safeguarding our future. We have plans to develop the Chartley Building as a passenger waiting room and museum and we developing a full mechanical signalling system to go in our Signal Box once it is restored. The Railway is run entirely by volunteers and there is always a warm welcome for new members who can train to operate trains, sell tickets or assist with restoration work, track maintenance etc. Since taking early retirement I have increased my involvement with the Railway and as well as working as a Guard I am involved in safety & financial management and marketing which has helped me develop new skills. The Railway runs April to the end of October at weekends and all week during school holidays. We run a Steam Gala in June with visiting locos and a Diesel Gala in the Autumn. Full details of trains and events can be found at 07

5 The Fund is taking part in the National Insurance Database... Here s how it affects you: Staffordshire County Council is the Administering Authority for the Staffordshire Pension Fund and is registered with the Information Commissioner s Office as a Data Controller. Your information is kept for the sole purpose of administering your pension. Your personal details are retained to establish any future entitlement to benefits. The Fund may pass certain details to a third party, where the third party is carrying out an administrative function of the Fund, or where we are legally obliged to do so. To protect your personal information held electronically, Staffordshire County Council is registered under the Data Protection Act What is the LGPS National Insurance Database? Staffordshire Pension Fund will be participating in a data sharing project with other LGPS pension funds in England, Wales and Scotland. This is undertaken in order to comply with legal requirements contained in the LGPS s governing regulations. Provisions contained in the LGPS Regulations 2013 mean that, if a member of the LGPS dies, it is necessary for the scheme s administrators to know if the individual also had other periods of LGPS membership elsewhere in the country so that the right death benefits can be calculated and paid to the deceased member s dependants. As the LGPS is locally administered, each pension fund has its own membership records and it can be difficult to tell if an individual has other LGPS records and where these are held. To comply with the requirements set out above, a National Insurance Database has been developed that will enable funds to check if their members have LGPS pensions records in other pension funds. What data is shared? For each member of the LGPS, the Database contains a short entry containing: The individual s National Insurance Number, A number to denote the individual s membership status, The last calendar year that the membership status changed, and A four digit number confirming the LGPS pension fund where that member s record is held. Who hosts the Database? The Database is hosted at the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, an LGPS pension fund. How will the data held on the Database be processed? The data held on the Database will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and other relevant legislation. Are there any other purposes that the Database will be used for? An extract of the membership information contained in the Database will periodically be shared with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) so that the LGPS can join the Tell Us Once service. Tell Us Once is a service offered in most parts of the country when an individual registers a death. When the LGPS joins Tell Us Once and the death of an LGPS member is registered, the DWP systems will ensure that the correct LGPS pension fund is informed of the death, meaning that the member s records can be processed more quickly Who is the data shared with? Other LGPS pension funds. These are all public bodies named in legislation as administering authorities of the LGPS. For the Tell Us Once service, an extract of the Database containing individuals NI Numbers will be securely shared with DWP every month so that they may maintain an up-to-date record of the LGPS s membership. How long will this data sharing be undertaken for? For as long as: i. the relevant regulatory requirements remain, and ii. the LGPS participates in the Tell Us Once service. In the event that neither of the above apply, the data sharing will cease to be undertaken Can I opt out of this data sharing? No. As this data sharing is partly being undertaken to comply with a legal requirement, it is not possible for scheme members to opt out of the data sharing

6 STATE PENSION CHANGES This April sees sweeping changes to pensions in the UK. Currently the state pension has two elements, or tiers. There s the basic state pension, a payment of up to currently a week for a single person (if you and your spouse both qualify, you get double the amount). Then there s the additional state pension, the State Second Pension or SERPS, an extra amount you could receive based on your National Insurance contributions. As a former member of the Local Government Pension Scheme, you would have not built up any additional state pension as you have been contracted-out of paying the extra National Insurance contributions. What are the changes? The basic and additional state pensions will be replaced by a flat-rate, single tier state pension with a full level of currently a week. Meanwhile, contracting out will be abolished, as will part of pension credit, and the number of years of National Insurance payments that are required to qualify for a full amount will be increased from 30 to 35. These changes will apply to you if you reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2016 ie, if you re a women born on or after 6 April 1953, or a man born on or after 6 April If you ve already reached the state pension age or are due to reach it before 6 April, the changes won t affect you; you ll still receive payments under the existing scheme. The only change for you will be standard annual rise in the basic state pension. Although the full new state pension will be currently a week, the amount you receive may be higher or lower depending on your National Insurance contributions. Your National Insurance record before 6 April 2016 will be used to calculate the starting amount for your new state pension. This figure will be whichever is the higher of these; the amount you d have received under the existing system, and the amount you d have received if the new system has been in place throughout your working life. Your starting amount will inc lude a deduction as you ve spent at least part of your working life contracted out of the additional state pension. The local Government Pension Scheme like most public sector schemes is a contracted out scheme and will remain so until April This means you were paying a lower National Insurance contribution amount, because you contributed to a workplace pension. In most cases, the pension you get from your contracted out pension scheme(s) should include an amount at least the equivalent of the additional State Pension you would have received if you had not been contracted out. This amount is referred to as the Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE) and is shown on your State Pension statement. The COPE amount is a Government estimate based on your National Insurance record. It is paid as part of your overall scheme pension benefits and is not normally identified separately by the scheme. The amount that you will get from your workplace pension will depend on the scheme rules and is not affected by the amount you will get from the new State Pension. If your starting amount is less than the full new state pension, you may be able to increase it by adding more qualifying years to your National Insurance record after 5 April 2016.You can do this until you either reach the full amount or your state pension age whichever comes first. Note that you don t have to claim the new state pension as soon as you reach your state pension age. As with the existing system, you can opt to defer it to increase the amount you will eventually receive. Under the new system, for every nine weeks you put off claiming your state pension it will increase by 1% - which works out at just under 5.8% for each full year you defer. Can I get an estimate of what I ll receive? You can get a state pension statement from the Department of Work and Pensions that estimates how much you may be entitled to based on your National Insurance contributions, providing you are at least 55 years of age. Visit uk/state-pension-statement to find out how. For more information, visit

7 Contact us... You can contact Pension Services by... writing to: Pension Services, 2 Staffordshire Place, Tipping Street, Stafford, ST16 2DH or by ing: pensions.enquiries@staffordshire.gov.uk or by phoning: or by fax: www we also have a website at: Please remember You should inform Pension Services directly of any amendments we should make to your personal details, for example if you change your name, address or marital status. The details should be given in writing, quoting your Pay Reference Number and enclosing copies of any supporting documentation if appropriate (e.g. a copy of your marriage certificate if you have married or a copy of your decree absolute if you have divorced). If any correspondence is returned to the Staffordshire Pension Fund, this may lead to your pension payment being stopped, so please make sure to let us know if you have moved. If a copy of the information in this Newsletter is needed in large print, Braille, another language or on audio format, please get in touch with us. 12