The LGPS Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) has asked that Local Government Pension Scheme members are encouraged to complete an online survey regarding the 50/50 section of the scheme.
The survey is available at: www.lgpsmember.org
It will only take around 30 seconds to complete as there are a maximum of three questions to be answered and submissions will remain anonymous.
As a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) you were previously ‘contracted out’ of the additional State Pension and therefore received a rebate on your National Insurance (NI) contributions. From 6 April 2016 this rebate ceased and the LGPS is longer ‘contracted out’.
The South West Pension Funds have appointed Denise Le Gal as its Independent Chair of the £25 billion Brunel Pension Partnership Limited.
The Partnership is one of eight national pooled funds, and will oversee the investment of the majority of pension assets for Avon, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Environment Agency, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, and Wiltshire Funds.
The Avon Pension Fund has recently published three key financial reports.
These are the:
They can be viewed at: Finance and Investments
At the Spring Budget 2017 the government announced that from 9 March 2017 a new 25% overseas transfer charge applies to some overseas pension transfers that were previously tax free. This will affect members of pension schemes requesting to transfer their pension to an overseas pension scheme.
You will still be able to make a transfer tax free if you are transferring to a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (known as QROPS) and formally requested your transfer before 9 March 2017 or one of the following apply:
The government has confirmed the employee pay bands and contribution rates which will operate in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in 2017/2018.
The nine pay bands and contribution rates will be uprated by 1% from 1 April 2017 - in line with September 2016’s Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation.
You can view the 2017/2018 LGPS employee contribution table at http://www.avonpensionfund.org.uk/how-much-do-i-pay
The FRC categorise signatories of the stewardship code based on the quality of their statement of compliance, the Avon Pension Fund has been awarded the highest Tier 1 assessment:
Tier 1 - Signatories provide a good quality and transparent description of their approach to stewardship and explanations of an alternative approach where necessary.
The Fund has a Responsible Investing (RI) Policy in place to address the impact of RI issues on the investments portfolio. The Committee have updated the policy (previously agreed in June 2012) to reflect the long term risks and opportunities arising from such issues.
The Annual Allowance is the amount by which the value of your pension benefits may increase in any one year without you having to pay a tax charge.
The HMRC has set up an online Annual Allowance calculator so that pension scheme members can check:
The Government is likely to introduce the cap of £95,000 on the total value of exit payments, such as those made on voluntary and compulsory redundancy, early next year.
The Government has provided the following update on the exit payments cap and the recovery regulations:
There will be a further consultation this autumn on regulations for the £95,000 exit payments cap, so they will not be in force in October as originally anticipated. Following this consultation it is hoped that regulations will be published and in force early next year.
