Primetime. Pension fund newsletter for retired members. Spring Issue 10. Delivering the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Transcription

1 Primetime Spring 2017 Issue 10 Blakeney Pension fund newsletter for retired members Delivering the Local Government Pension Scheme Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

2 Please keep in touch! Keeping us informed of your correct contact details is very important it could make the difference between your pension being paid or stopped. We work really hard to try and find people we have lost touch with in order to help restart their pensions, but it s not an easy task! So please do let us know if you move house or this newsletter didn t arrive at the correct address. Our contact details are: The Norfolk Pension Fund 5th Floor, Lawrence House 5 St Andrews Hill, Norwich, NR2 1AD pensions@norfolk.gov.uk You are also very welcome to call in and see us at our Norwich offices during the opening times listed below: Monday to Thursday 8.45am 5.00pm Friday 8.45am 4.00pm Our phone lines are open until 5.30pm Monday to Thursday and until 4.30pm on a Friday On the web if you register to use our online services then you can check and update your address details at any time... Hello and welcome... to this latest edition of our magazine for Norfolk Pension Fund retired members. As always, we hope you find Primetime clear and helpful and interesting! We love to hear from you, so please let us know what you think or if you have suggestions for future issues. We know that there is a lot to take in. Please remember that our Pensioner Payroll Support Team are here to help you with any questions you may have about your Norfolk Pension Fund pension. They are always happy to hear from you on or pensions@norfolk.gov.uk. Alternatively, you are welcome to come and see us in our offices in Norwich city centre. I hope you enjoy this issue. Nicola Mark Head of the Norfolk Pension Fund The Norfolk Pension Fund 4/5th Floor Lawrence House 5 St Andrews Hill Norwich NR2 1AD pensions@norfolk.gov.uk Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter 2017 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

3 Pensions to rise by 1% in 2017 Your Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) pension keeps pace with the cost of living from the date you leave the Scheme. Like other public sector pensions, cost of living changes to your LGPS pension are based on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate from September of the previous year. The CPI rate in September 2016 was 1%, so the 2017 pensions increase will be 1%. If your pension started before April 2016 you will get the full increase. If it started after April 2016 and before March 2017 you will get part of the increase. We will send you a payslip in April which will include a message about the increase to your pension. 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 confirm a change in bank details over the phone as we must have your signature when you tell us. You can either: drop us a line download a form from our website at call in at our offices to see us Our contact details are on the back page of this booklet. Please remember to sign your instruction to change your bank details. We usually run our pensions payroll around the middle of the month, so please tell us about any changes in good time or it may delay your payment. 4 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter 2017 When is my pension paid? Your pension goes into your bank account on the last working day of the month. In 2017/18 dates will be March 2017 Friday 31 March April 2017 Friday 28 April May 2017 Wednesday 31 May June 2017 Friday 30 June July 2017 Monday 31 July August 2017 Thursday 31 August September 2017 Friday 29 September October 2017 Tuesday 31 October November 2017 Thursday 30 November December 2017 Friday 29 December January 2018 Wednesday 31 January February 2018 Wednesday 28 February When do I get a payslip? We only print payslips to send to you when: the amount you receive changes by more than 1 from your last payment, or HM Revenue & Customs change your tax code, or you change your bank details, or you change your address, or we have a message for you (always check the back of your payslip to see any message!) So there will be months when you don t get a payslip, but please don t worry your money will always be paid into your account on the above dates. There is a way to see all of your payslips, P60s and much more just register for our very secure online services see page 16 for details Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

4 Pensions Committee and the Pensions Oversight Board Norfolk County Council, as administering authority of the Norfolk Pension Fund, has delegated responsibility for decisions about the Norfolk Pension Fund to its Pensions Committee. Members of Pensions Committee act as trustees and oversee the management of the Norfolk Pension Fund. Pensions Committee has 8 members, 7 elected Councillors and 1 scheme member representative (nominated by the local Trade Unions). They are all committed to securing the best possible outcomes for the Pension Fund, scheme members and participating employers. In their role they are supported by professional advice from Pension Fund officers, professional advisors and external experts, and the Pensions Oversight Board. Pensions Committee meets quarterly and scheme members are welcome to attend. The Pensions Oversight Board helps Pension Committee ensure that the Pension Fund is administered efficiently and complies with all relevant rules and regulations. Unlike Pensions Committee, the Pensions Oversight Board doesn t have decision making authority, but is focussed on ensuring that the Pension Fund fulfils all its responsibilities appropriately and well. Brian Wigg has recently taken over as the Pensioner Member on the Pensions Oversight Board, helping to ensure that your interests are properly looked after. Brian s experience in local government, pensions and investments - and of course as a retired member! means that he is very well qualified for this role. This is a voluntary role so Brian doesn t get paid for his time and experience. We are very grateful to Brian, and all our Pensions Oversight Board members, for taking on these responsibilities on behalf of our scheme members and employers. You can find out more about Pensions Committee and the Pensions Oversight Board on our website at, under About Us. News from the Pensioner Payroll Support Team As always 2016 has flown by and we are already well into 2017! If you have been in touch with my team recently you may have spoken to one of our two most recent recruits. Daniel joined us last summer. Dan s experience working in local government pensions in London has really helped him settle in with the work, but he still has a bit to learn about the Norfolk dialect! Luckily our other new recruit, Nichola, had no such language barrier to overcome, coming to us from Aviva where she also worked in pensions. I m glad to see this year s pensions increase has been confirmed as 1%. Look out for the message in your April payslip, and also the details on page 4 of this issue of Prime Time. I was also pleased that the Tell Us Once service has been extended to include the LGPS now. This is the service that allows Registrars to share information about deaths with relevant organisations like us to make things easier for next of kin and executors. It is still not 100% reliable yet for us though as we only get told about deaths when the National Insurance details are known. It is still a really helpful service though at a difficult time. You can read more about the service on page 12. Please remember we are all here to help you with any questions or concerns you may have about your LGPS pension. We are only a phone call, or visit away our contact details are on the back page of this booklet. Best wishes Paul Pensions Payroll Manager Paul Stimpson 6 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter 2017 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

5 Tax News for Personal Allowances Most people are allowed to receive a certain amount of income in a tax year before they pay tax, and this is called personal allowance. For the new tax year, the ordinary allowance goes up to 11,500. If an individual earns over 100,000 their personal allowance will be reduced by 1 for every 2 they earn over this amount. Income Tax The amount of tax you pay is based on your income in the tax year, over and above your personal allowance. If you live in Scotland, you will pay the Scottish rate of income tax. Rate Tax Year 2016/17 Tax Year 2017/18 Tax Year 2017/18 (Scottish Resident) Basic Rate: 20% 32,000 33,500 Set at 31,930 Higher Rate: 40% 32, ,000 Additional Rate: 45% 33, ,000 31, ,000 Over 150,000 Over 150,000 Over 150,000 Marriage allowance If you have an income that is less than the personal allowance, marriage allowance lets you transfer up to 10% of your personal allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner if they earn more than you. This can reduce their tax by up to 230 in the tax year (6 April to 5 April the next year). You can find more information and apply online at New Year Tax Codes In February, we start getting large volumes of tax codes for the new tax year If you get a new tax code statement from HMRC around this time look for the tax year on it. It may be for 2017/18. If so, we will use it for payments from April onwards. You don t have to contact us to tell us your new code, but please check it s on your April payslip. 8 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter 2017 Am I a taxpayer? We are all potential taxpayers but you only pay tax if your income is greater than your personal tax allowance. Detailed information is available from HMRC, but here is a simplified guide. 1. Add up your 2. Add up your tax 3. Take one from taxable income. free allowances. the other. Take Some income is For most of us, this your tax-free taxable and some is just the personal allowances away is never taxed. Add allowance shown from your taxable up your taxable on page 16, but income. If there is income in a tax there are others anything left you year. Tax years run such as Blind have to pay tax on from 6 April to 5 Person s Allowance. it. April. Examples of taxable income: State pensions Company pensions, like ours Earnings from any job Interest on most savings Share dividends Rental income Examples of non taxable income: Premium Bond wins Income from tax exempt savings accounts What if I think my tax code is wrong? If you think your tax code is wrong you will need to contact HMRC: Telephone Number Open 8am - 8pm, Mon-Fri, and 8am - 4pm Saturdays. Frequently Asked Questions Text phone number for hearing & speech impaired members: Please quote your National Insurance number and PAYE reference 531/N3722P Hopefully this summary of tax is helpful but please look at the for full details of tax and take professional advice if you need it. Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

6 Useful reminders You may remember these items from previous editions of Primetime. We often get questions about them so feel they are worth repeating Change of Address Keeping us up to date with your current address is really important. If any mail from us to you comes back undelivered we will stop paying your pension while we try to find out what your situation is. See page 2 for how to keep in touch. Pensions Jargon Buster Trivial Commutation New job? Please remember to tell us if you get another paid job with any employer who offers you membership of the LGPS, regardless of whether you join the scheme or not. In some cases, working for this type of employer may affect your pension. Trivial commutation is the technical term for swapping your small annual pension for a one-off lump sum. To date we have written to over 400 pensioners and some have been offered the chance to swap their annual pension for a one-off lump sum. If you would like to know if you are eligible to do this please get in touch (eligible annual pensions are usually in the hundreds rather than the thousands, but it depends on your individual circumstances). Certificates of Entitlement (Life Certificates) From time to time we send out a form called a Continued Entitlement to a Pension (900 were sent out at the end of October 2016). Please don t be concerned if you receive one; it s our way of checking that you are still alive and safely receiving your pension! If you get one of these from us, it is really important that you do fill it in and return it to us, so that we can carry on paying your pension. Power of Attorney (POA) If a family member or friend is dealing with your financial affairs by way of a Power of Attorney, please send the full document (or a copy) to us. We can then work with your Attorney. Remember though, we only need to see a POA if it is being used if you are still managing your finances please don t send us a POA. If you don t have a POA but need someone to act on your behalf, our Appointee Indemnity Form may be used please ask us for more details. Living abroad? Are you one of our 303 pensioners who live abroad? If so, you may be interested in our contract with Citibank. For just 2.74 a month collected from your payment Citibank will pay your pension directly to your overseas bank account in local currency, via their WorldLink system. Payment this way does take a little longer to process, so your pension will arrive a few days after your payment date. If you would like to know more then please contact the Pensioner Payroll Support Team on or pensions@norfolk.gov.uk. Changing your bank? Don t forget to tell us see page 4 for more details 10 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter 2017 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

7 Tell us once... Norfolk Pension Fund have signed up to Tell Us Once, which is a service that lets you report a death to the relevant Government departments and local authorities in one go. As part of this service, we will automatically be notified once the death of any of our scheme members has been reported to a Registrar as long as the National Insurance number has been recorded. This means the scheme member s records can be processed more quickly and simply than would otherwise be the case. If you live in Norfolk, you can book an appointment with the Registrar online at or by calling What is a Registrar? A person who keeps official records of the landmark events in our lives births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships. 12 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter 2017 LGPS National Insurance Database To enable the LGPS to join the Tell Us Once service, a new LGPS National Insurance Database has been set up so that relevant data can be securely shared with the Department for Work and Pensions. The database will also be used by other LGPS Funds in England, Scotland and Wales to help check if their members have other LGPS membership elsewhere. If one of our scheme members dies, we need to know if they had other periods of LGPS membership administered elsewhere in the country. This is so we can make sure the right death benefits can be calculated and paid to the member s dependants, in accordance with the LGPS Regulations HMRC Pensioner and Bereavement Helpline HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have a dedicated helpline on for pensioners and also those calling about the death of a pensioner. This telephone number is cheaper than their previous 0845 one, especially if you are calling from a mobile phone. If you are deaf or hearing or speech impaired, the number is (Textphone). A textphone will let you type what you want to say rather than speaking into a mouthpiece. It is not possible to speak to an adviser by phoning a textphone number. If you re calling from abroad please telephone If you need to write to HMRC the address is: Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment HM Revenue and Customs BX9 1AS If you are writing about someone who has died please mark your letter Bereavement. Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

8 Your LGPS Pension remains secure Remember your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pension is secure and your benefits are not directly linked to either what happens in the financial markets, or the investment performance of the Fund. Accounts and investments This is a summary of the Norfolk Pension Fund accounts and investments. Our full accounts for are published on our website at following full external audit. You can also find there a copy of our Statement of Investment Principles, which includes details of our Socially Responsible Investment and Corporate Governance activities. If you would like a paper copy of either document please call us on / /16 000s 000s Opening net assets of the scheme 2,670,147 2,948,870 Employees contribution to the Fund 27,253 27,721 Employers contribution to the Fund 97,801 97,904 Transfer values received 5,255 5,130 Payments to pensioners and dependants -121, ,516 Transfers out and other payments to leavers -87,683-12,636 Advisor fees and general administration costs -15,484-15,674 Net investment return including income and the change in value of investments 373, ,001 Closing net assets of the scheme 2,948,870 2,904,798 The Transfers out figure includes the regulatory transfer of all active, deferred and pensioner National Probation Service members to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Active currency, Government and company bonds 6% Wellington, Shares in global companies 6% Sarasin, Shares in global companies 6% Baillie Gifford & Co, Shares in UK companies 8% L&G, shares in UK companies 8% M&G, Government and company bonds and other financial instruments 7% Capital International Limited, Shares in global companies 9% Standard Life, Private Equity 2% HarbourVest Partners, Private Equity 4% HSBC (Custodian) Global Funds, cash 1% Fidelity Pensions Management, Shares in overseas companies 17% Aviva Investors, Property 13% Henderson Global Investors, Government, Company bonds and other financial instruments 13% We always have a mix of investment approaches and asset types as we aim to get the best return on investment we can, whilst at the same time managing risk. As at 31 March 2016 our assets were managed by 12 Investment managers and our Custodian. In addition Berenberg Bank and Insight Investment manage the Fund s currency hedging contracts in respect of overseas equity holdings. The market value of these contracts is included within the Custodian balance in the above chart. In difficult markets the diversification of the Fund s investments allowed us to maintain the overall value of the assets of the Fund in 2015/16. We are working with 10 other like-minded LGPS Funds to develop plans to bring the management of our investments together in a pooled arrangement, in order to reduce costs whilst maintaining investment performance. This will not change Pensions Committee s overall responsibility for the Norfolk Pension Fund. 14 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter 2017 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

9 Norfolk County Council Check out your pension online... We have a dedicated area for retired members on our website at Here you can find all the pension information you might need, along with lots of general material about the LGPS and the Norfolk Pension Fund. You can also securely view the details of your own pension by registering to use our online services. Registering with us means that you can check the information we hold about you and easily let us know if it is wrong or changes Our online services are protected to the best industry standards Our online services have been live for five years now and 5,000 retired members have already registered! If you would like help to register then you can call us on or us at pensions.systems@norfolk.gov.uk Our oldest registered user is 97! Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter The Norfolk Directory is a useful online directory that can be used to find a range of clubs, organisations, groups and services in Norfolk. The search results can be narrowed to just those organisations within 1, 5 or 10 miles of your postcode or widened to include the whole of Norfolk. There is a What s On feature to allow you to go to a specific day to see what s on in your area. To find out more about the Directory please go to: Please contact Debra Lawrence-Bell at debra.lawrence-bell@norfolk. gov.uk or tel: for more information on how to register or update records. Please write to: Communications Team Norfolk Pension Fund 4th Floor Lawrence House 5 St Andrews Hill Norwich NR2 1AD Or Norfolk Directory Your guide to care and support for adults Contains lots of useful information to enable people to stay independent in their own homes for as long as possible. There is information about how to get help and support, what kind of services are available and details of other organisations that can help. It is available free in libraries, GP surgeries and other places across Norfolk. The Guide is available online to download as a PDF or as an ebook to read at or for a free copy contact Norfolk County Council Customer service Centre on: It s great to hear from you We always love hearing from our retired members and would again like to say a big thank you to those of you who took the time to write to us this year. Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

10 Looking after your data is very important to us, so we wanted to tell you about the National Fraud Initiative. Norfolk County Council is the administering authority of the Norfolk Pension Fund and is registered as Data Controller under the Data Protection Act The 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. The Council participate in the Cabinet Office s National Fraud Initiative - a data-matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. 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. 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. The Council is required to provide particular sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise. The use of data by the Cabinet Office in a data-matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under 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. For further information on this, the Cabinet Office s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information, please visit Alternatively, you can contact the National Fraud Initiative Team at the Cabinet Office at nfiqueries@cabinetoffice@gov.uk. You may want to store useful information here if you do make sure you keep it in a safe place! Your name Your National Insurance number Your Payroll number Norfolk Pension Fund State Pension (If you are claiming State Pension for the first time) (General enquiries) Other organisations you might want to contact... Bank Building Society Local Council Doctor Solicitor/accountant Tax Office Insurance policy Mortgage Credit card Gas Electric Other 18 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter 2017 Norfolk Pension Fund Newsletter

11 Can we help you? The Norfolk Pension Fund 5th Floor Lawrence House 5 St Andrews Hill Norwich NR2 1AD Telephone pensions@norfolk.gov.uk Website Please have your National Insurance number handy Think we ve made a mistake with your pension? Please let us know as soon as possible if you have a question or think we have made a mistake with your pension. Most queries are easily sorted out this way. However, if you disagree with any decision about your membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme, you re entitled to put your complaint through the official dispute procedure. You can find a guide to the dispute procedure on our website at. Alternatively please contact us and we will send you a copy. If you need this magazine in large print, audio, Braille, alternative format or in a different language, please contact us on (textphone ) CB 3/17 Disclaimer: the information in this newsletter is for general use only and does not cover every personal circumstance. If there is any disagreement over your pension benefits due under the Local Government Pension Scheme, the appropriate legislation will apply. This newsletter does not give you any contractual or legal rights, and is provided for information purposes only.