North East Scotland Pension Fund. Pensions Newsletter THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME (LGPS) - SCOTLAND

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1 North East Scotland Pension Fund 2012 Pensions Newsletter THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME (LGPS) - SCOTLAND

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3 Welcome to your Newsletter for As usual we have tried to concentrate on the most common queries raised by pensioners and we hope that you find this newsletter useful and informative. We would be glad to hear your comments, particularly if there are any points we have not covered which you feel are important. New Pensions Manager In March 2012 we appointed a new Pensions Manager. Mrs. Laura Goodchild was previously our Principal Pensions Officer Accounting and Investment, and has been with the Pension Fund since Pensioner Payroll Your November payment has been processed on a new computer system that has been implemented during the previous 10 months. Data for almost 19,000 pensioners was migrated into the new system at the start of August and since then staff have maintained the old and new systems to ensure payments will be correct. The new system will improve our administration and provide online self service facilities for pensioners. Some pensioners will see an increase or decrease of no more than two pence in their monthly payment as a result of rounding differences between the old and new system. The self service facilities should be available early next year and will allow you to: view your pension details view current and previous payslips view current and previous P60 s change your bank details We will send you details of how to register for this service early next year. If you would prefer not to be sent these details then please let us know. Changing Your Bank Account? If you change the bank account your pension is paid into, please let us know at once so that we can continue to make regular payments. You will need to send us a signed letter notifying us of the change; we cannot accept this information over the phone or by for security reasons. Please also tell us as soon as possible if you change your address or your marital status.

4 Payslips Please remember that we no longer issue monthly payslips. Payslips are issued under the following circumstances: In April to confirm the increase to your pension if applicable In May to show details of your new regular pension amount If there is a change of 0.50 or more to the net amount If there are changes to your tax code which affect your net amount. This measure gives us a considerable cost saving on printing and postage. Pension Pay Dates 2012/13 October 15th November 15th December 14th January 15th February 15th March 15th April 15th May 15th Your tax code At the beginning of the new financial year you may be sent a notification of a tax code change from HMRC Centre 1. HMRC also automatically send the Pension Fund notifications of tax code changes for our pensioners. If you receive a notification and have any questions you should contact HMRC on If you received more than one tax code for the tax year beginning 6 April 2012, you should contact HMRC. The Pension Fund cannot advise you about this coding notice. If you receive a tax code in January or February please note whether it is for 2012/13 or 2013/14. Codes for 2013/14 will not be applied until your April pension payment. Thinking of going back to work? If you return to work for an employer participating in the LGPS, any pension in respect of compensatory added years may be reduced or suspended, even if you choose not to join the LGPS in your new employment. This only affects people who: - retired on the grounds of redundancy or interest of efficiency, and - received compensatory added years when they retired. If you didn t receive any added years, you can take up any new employment without your pension being affected. The regulations governing this area are very complex. If you start work again you should contact us as soon as possible, so that we can tell you if your pension benefits will be affected.

5 Fund Update 2011/2012 Income to Fund Employees contributions 25 million Employers contributions Transfers received Investment Income 112 million 4 million 44 million Expenditure Pension Benefits 99 million Leavers and Transfers Fund Administration Costs 5 million 2 million Asset Allocation at 31 March 2012 Top 6 Directly Held Stock as at 31 March 2012 (million) % of Fund BAT HSBC Rio Tinto Baidu Inc Vodafone Amazon Property Bonds 6% 10% Cash 3% Other 5% Equities 76%

6 Are you online? Our website at has lots of useful information about your pension benefits and proposed changes to the LGPS. You can also follow us on Twitter NESPF). We are now offering this newsletter by . If you would prefer to receive an online version, rather than a paper copy, please us at pensions@nespf.org.uk, putting Pensioner Newsletter in the subject line. We will not use your address for any other purpose, nor will we pass it on to anyone else. National Fraud Initiative The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) in Scotland is a counter-fraud exercise led by Audit Scotland. It uses computerised techniques to compare information about individuals held by different public bodies, and on different financial systems, to identify circumstances (matches) that might suggest the existence of fraud or error. The Pension Fund has a statutory obligation to participate in the NFI and your pension data will be used, along with other authorities and government organisations like the Department of Work and Pensions, to share and compare information. We are required to provide details of pensioners so that they can be compared with information provided by other public bodies. This will ensure, for example, that no pensions are being paid to persons who are deceased or no longer eligible, and that occupational pension income is being declared when housing benefit is applied for. Sometimes wrong payments are made because of a genuine error. Previous exercises have uncovered instances of pensioners receiving too little pension, resulting in their payments being increased. These exercises, therefore, help promote the best use of public funds. If you would like more information about this please call our Helpdesk as shown below, or visit our website at Data Protection For the purposes of processing your personal information, Aberdeen City Council as the administering authority for the North East Scotland Pension Fund is the Data Controller. The nominated representative of the Data Controller is the City Solicitor. You can check that your computerised personal record is accurate by contacting us, although we may charge a small fee.

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8 Contact Us We hope you find this newsletter useful and informative. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us or browse through our constantly updated website: North East Scotland Pension Fund Helpdesk: (01224) Aberdeen City Council Fax: (01224) AECC 2nd Floor Balgownie One Website: Conference Way Bridge of Don Aberdeen AB23 8AQ