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The venues and dates are now confirmed for January's meetings which are open to all Pension Fund employers and are aimed at staff who are responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Local Government Pension Scheme. For more information on the events and to book your place, please click here.
It's time to say goodbye to 'PLOG'..... We are looking for a new name for our employer meetings to reflect communication, engagement and the relationship between Peninsula Pensions and our scheme employers. There is a current working title of PP Employer Connections but if you have any ideas, please email Emma Davies with your suggestion.
Recently there have been a couple of cases where former LGPS members have been convicted of employment-related offences. We therefore thought it was appropriate to remind all employers of their ability to forfeit a member’s LGPS pension rights if the reason they ceased employment related to these offences. Please see our website for more information.
This autumn saw The Pension Regulator (TPR) launch their “Don’t let a scammer enjoy your retirement” campaign. We are aware that people within our funds have recently been targeted and would ask all employers to display the TPR poster within their workplace and place links to the TPR pensions scam guide on their intranet.
Employees over age 75
There has been a recent case where a member was brought into the scheme on 1st April 2017 at the age of 76. Regulation 4(1)(b) of the LGPS Regulations 2013 prevents a person from joining the scheme when they are aged 75 or over so the employee should not have been entered into the Scheme as they are not eligible for membership. To correct the position, the employer was requested to cease deductions and arrange a full refund of all scheme contributions to the member. Please check an employee’s age before you automatically enrol them into the Scheme.
Lost Pension Applications
Some employers are notifying us of breaks in membership for members on maternity pay but if the member has received occupational/statutory maternity pay, then they haven't actually had an unpaid break. All you need to do in these circumstances is tell us the assumed pensionable pay (APP).
Employer Discretions Policy
We are receiving some enquiries from members involved in redundancy exercises where their employer has told them they can opt for the discretionary element of their redundancy pay to be used to buy pension. Please note that members are unable to do this directly but the employer can grant additional pension to a member in these circumstances under Regulation R31 but your Pensions Discretions Policy needs to reflect this. For more information, please see our guidance on the website or contact the Employer & Communications Team.
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