Who is allowed to join the Local Government Pension Scheme? The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is available to all non-teaching staff employed by the county council, district councils (Plymouth City, Torbay etc) plus various schools, colleges and universities based in the Devon area. Civilian workers for the police force and fire service are also eligible to become members of the LGPS. As of the 1st April 2008, you must also have a contract of employment of at least 3 months (anyone with less than this or who works on a casual basis shall NOT be eligible to pay into the LGPS).
Is joining the LGPS compulsory? You are under no obligation whatsoever to join the Local Government Pension Scheme; it is totally up to you whether you contribute to the pension scheme or not. In addition to this, you are free to cancel your contribution to the scheme at any point you feel necessary (although your leaving date will normally be the end of that month, rather than the date your opting-out form is signed).
How do I join the Fund? You must, of course, be employed by an authority or admitted body who has membership of the Devon Pension Fund (check our employing bodies page for further details). In most cases, you shall be brought into the pension scheme upon first starting work for your employer, although you should always double-check any starters documents you are asked to complete just in case the pension election form/section is contained therein.
If you are not brought into the scheme automatically - or you are already in an employment and wish to opt-in to the scheme at a later date - you can do so by completing the relevant opting-in form; 'Option Form (April 2008)'. This form can be obtained from either ourselves or your employers payroll department. It should be completed and returned to the payroll department as soon as possible.
Is it worth joining the scheme if I am only employed on a part-time or temporary contract? Every hour worked is an hour counting towards your eventual pension benefits. You may work less than full-time hours - maybe just a couple of hours a week - but if you happen to stay in local government employment for a number of years, those hours will rapidly turn into days, into weeks, into years of membership (and the more membership you have, the better your eventual benefits shall be). If the cost of contribution is an issue, you would also do well to take into consideration the reduced rate of National Insurance that pension scheme contributors pay; a benefit you will receive only as long as you are actively paying into the scheme.
Can I pay into the LGPS and my Personal Pension Plan at the same time? Since the HMRC tax-simplification rulings of April 2006, many restrictions regarding when/where you may pay into a pension scheme have been removed. You now have a personal annual allowance of up to 100% of pensionable earnings (not to exceed the current maximum of £215, 000 per annum), from which you can pay into a variety of pension schemes/arrangements. As long as pension contributions are kept below this annual allowance, you are free to pay into as many pension schemes as you like.
If I have previously opted-out of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), am I allowed to opt back in again? You are currently allowed to opt-out of the scheme on two separate occasions. A return to the scheme after the second opt-out will be made at the Pensions Officer's discretion. There are no limitations on re-entering the scheme due to contract expiration, leaving council employment or contract termination by an employer.
Can I buy back a period of service I didn't contribute to at the time? Unfortunately, there is no way of 'resurrecting' a previous period of non-contributed service. You can however attempt to make up for this short-fall in your benefits by paying additional contributions via an Additional Voluntary Contribution plan, or by purchasing blocks of additional pension (£250 per year, to a maximum of £5 000). Contact our Additional Contributions team for further information.
I have previously contributed to the LGPS through your/another authority. What happens to this membership? Service accrued by you which does NOT qualify for a preserved benefit will be automatically unfrozen upon receipt of your new starters documents and amalgamated with your future service. If this previous service is held by a different administering authority to Devon Pension Services, we will require written confirmation from you that you wish to transfer the service in question. Upon receipt of this confirmation, we shall contact your previous administering authority and arrange for the service to be transferred to your new employment.
If you have entitlement to preserved benefits - regardless of which administering authority holds them - you will need to make a formal election to unfreeze your preserved benefits in order to amalgamate them with your new employment. A hasty decision to unfreeze your preserved benefit can have very real ramifications on your future benefits, so we will only accept a transfer confirmation in response to one of our specific 'unfreeze your preserved benefit' letters.
Can I transfer in service from a previous occupational/personal pension scheme? If so, how much service will it buy in the LGPS? When you first commence employment with Devon County Council (or an employer contributing to the Devon pension fund), you should inform us of any previous pension benefits you may have accrued throughout your working life. This can take the form of initial interest indicated on your starters documents or a call to our office, both of which will result in us writing to you, requesting permission to contact your previous pension provider with regards to a possible transfer of your pension entitlements. A definite application for a transfer of benefits must be made within the first 12 months of starting your LGPS membership, otherwise you risk losing your right to transfer-in previous service.
It is rare to find other occupational pension entitlements buy day-for-day service when transferred into the LGPS, so do not be alarmed if your transferred service shows less days/years than it previously had shown (service transferred from other LGPS administrators - often referred to as an 'Interfund transfer' - should always purchase day-for-day service).
How long do transfers of previous service take to complete? The time it takes to complete a transfer can vary significantly. The originating company/scheme can have a large impact on the completion time; some organisations can wrap-up a transfer in a matter of weeks (most LGPS authorities for example), while others can take a number of months. Delays may also occur for other reasons; awaiting GMP figures from the Contributions Agency for example (which can drastically effect a transfer's completion time). On average, we would expect a transfer to be completed within 1-2 months from the first day of the application (although 3 months is not uncommon). New starters please note; the times estimated here are based on when our office first receives the transfer request/starters form, NOT from when the form is returned to your employer.
What happens if I leave my employment before a transfer of previous service has been completed? If we receive notice that you have left, or intend on leaving, your local government employment before your transfer has been completed, we shall send a letter to your home address requesting confirmation that you wish the transfer to proceed. If we do not receive this confirmation from you within one month of the date of the letter, the transfer will be cancelled and your benefits (or refund of contributions) calculated solely on the service accrued whilst in this employment.
What happens to my pension if I reduce my working hours? Your pensionable service is based on the proportion of full-time hours you work. If you reduce your hours of employment, you will end up with less pensionable service when you come to retire. Example; 10 years service at 37 hours per week (i.e full-time) would give you 10 years pensionable service. However, 10 years service at 18.5 hours per week (exactly 50% of full-time hours) would provide you with 5 years pensionable service. It is imperative you understand that pensionable service and length of service are NOT the same thing; pensionable service defines the amount of service to be used in your pension calculations, while your length of service is the calendar length of time for which you have worked for your employer(s).
I work full-time at my college/school, yet your records show me working part-time hours. Why is this? Colleges and schools generally only operate during term-time (some employments excepted; certainly the case for administrative staff and/or teaching assistants, meal-time assistants etc). So although you work full-time hours when the school is open, spread over a year you actually work less than 37 hours, 52 weeks a year (the recognised hours for a 'full-time' employment). In order that pension benefits for part-time people are calculated fairly when compared to full-time employees, your hours are adjusted slightly to take your term-time only status into account.
Do strike days count towards my pension? Strike days are an unofficial absence from work. Any strike period of one day or more will not count towards your final scheme membership. As a result, your pension will be slightly lower than it would have been had you not gone on strike. In the past, there have been ways to pay back the break in service via an arrangement with your employer's payroll department. This typically involves you paying both the employee and employer's share of the pension contributions for the period in which you were striking.
I will be taking an extended absence from my current employment. How will this affect my pension? Your pension is calculated using a combination of your final salary and your pensionable service. The period of your absence is regarded (for pensionable purposes at least) as a break in service; it will not count towards your pensionable service. In order to avoid having this break in service, you should arrange to pay extra contributions to cover the period in question (this should be arranged through your employers payroll department). If you do not make these arrangements, your final pension entitlement will be less than it could otherwise have been (the longer the period of absence, the larger the impact it will have on your pension).
Are you allowed to give advice on my transfer/retirement? Unfortunately, we are not permitted to offer advice to you over any aspect of your pension (regardless of how trivial the issue may seem). We will always provide you with the necessary information on which to base a decision, but we cannot do anymore than that. If you do need further advice, an independent financial adviser should be able to help you.
Can I continue to pay my Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) contributions after leaving employment? Membership of the LGPS is only available to employees who remain in local government employment. If you leave your local government employment, your pension will be frozen until you reach retirement age, elect to transfer to a new scheme or take a refund of your contributions (only applicable if you have less than 3 months scheme membership).
I have been refused a refund of contributions, yet I have been contributing for less than three months. Why is this? Your application for a refund may have been refused if you have either transferred a previous pension entitlement into the LGPS, or have 'Qualifying Service' from a previous employment in which you contributed to the LGPS. A transfer-in of any other kind of service will automatically qualify you for a Preserved Benefit, regardless of the length of contribution from your latest employment.
Am I able to receive a refund of contributions on one employment, yet retain my pension rights in another? In a word? No. As of 6th April 2006, electing to take a refund of contributions will result in ALL rights to ANY other LGPS benefits you may have accrued (within England and Wales) being waived. This includes (but is not restricted to); frozen contributions, concurrent employments, deferred benefits, pension credits and/or pensions in payment. As soon as your election for a refund is received, all of these benefits shall become null and void, with immediate effect. This covers benefits held by any administering authority of the LGPS in England and Wales; not just your current authority.
Why has tax been deducted from my refund of contributions? If I don't pay tax, does this still apply to my refund? The tax deducted from your refund is a tax applied to the pension fund; it is not another form of income tax. We are obliged to retrieve this payment from all members of the pension scheme who leave the scheme with less than 3 months pensionable service (and thus, an entitlement to a refund of contributions).
What happens if I change employments but remain in the LGPS? When changing employments within local government, your pension contributions do not necessarily follow suite. We are obliged to treat every individual employment as a pension in its own right. As a result, you will generally have to make an election to combine the benefits again once you have started your new employment.
If you do not elect to transfer your service, your accrued pension contributions will either become frozen or a Preserved Benefit. Please consult the relevant chapter in the Employees Guide for further information.
What happens if my job is out-sourced to a private contractor? In the event that your employment no longer comes under direct local government jurisdiction, your new employer is obliged to offer an alternative pension scheme which is roughly equivalent to the LGPS. Alternatively, an employer can petition to become an admitted body (the employer, once its application to become an admitted body has been approved, enters into a contractual arrangement with the administering authority in order that its employees may join the LGPS). This means that you would remain in the LGPS until you leave your new employer. Such arrangements are obviously out of the influence of a single scheme member however.
You should remember that you are under no obligation to join your new employer's pension scheme. If the pension scheme offered by your new employer does not meet your requirements, you can elect not to join. You will not be able to contribute to the LGPS of course, but you do have the freedom of paying into a personal pension plan of your own choosing. Consulting an independent financial advisor on such issues would be an advisable course of action.
What is the normal age of retirement for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)? The normal retirement age for both men and women in the LGPS is 65 years of age. As of April 2006, you are now able to continue paying into the scheme up until your 75th birthday. This new regulation has been introduced purely as a means of accommodating the few people who would like to continue working beyond their normal retirement age; nobody is expected (or forced) to work beyond their 65th birthday.
Note: Benefits may be taken earlier at age 60, but this could see a percentage reduction applied (dependent on you satisfying the 'Eighty-Five Year Rule'). The 'Eighty-Five Year Rule' will only be available to current scheme members until 31st March 2008, after which time it will cease to be a part of the LGPS (note: certain protections apply; please consult our Glossary entry for the 'Eighty-Five Year Rule' for further details).
What is the earliest age I can receive payment of a Pension Credit from divorce? If you are entitled to a Pension Credit, you are an exception to the 'early retirement' rule (receiving your benefits before the normal retirement age of 65). A Pension Credit can never be bought into payment early (before age 65) unless you are suffering from a terminal-illness where life expectancy is believed to be less than one year. For further information about Pension Credit, please consult our Divorce Notes.
Does my pension/preserved benefit increase over time? Your pension is linked to the Retail Price Index; a figure which charts the price of various goods and services over a period of time. This figure is applied annually to your deferred benefit, right up to when it finally comes into payment. This means that, between the dates of leaving your employment and your pension coming into payment, the benefits will not lose any value when compared to modern day costs of living.
I am unable to work due to illness. Can I receive my pension early? In order to retire on ill health, you must receive confirmation from your authorities approved doctor (through the relevant process) that your illness is serious enough to prevent you from carrying out the requirements of your employment (or that of a similar role). If you were officially confirmed as ill-health eligible, you would qualify for immediate benefits (possibly with an enhancement), regardless of your age. Without this confirmation, you would not be able to retire on ill health grounds. You could always voluntarily resign from your employment of course, but you would not be eligible for benefits unless you were at least 60 years of age (and even if you were old enough, the benefits would not include an ill-health enhancement). An alternative option may be that of Flexible Retirement; please consult the FAQ just below this one, entitled "Is there a way of taking my pension...".
Is there a way of taking my pension without necessarily 'retiring'/leaving my existing job? As of 1st April 2006, new regulations have been introduced with the intention of making retirement a more flexible process. You will, with your employers consent, be able to take your benefits from an earlier age (currently 50 years and over), in exchange for dropping your hours and/or the grade on which you are employed, yet continuing to work for several more years. In addition, if your employer does agree to let you take flexible-retirement, they (the employer) have the discretion to waive any actuarial reductions which may otherwise be applied to your pension. Application for this procedure should be made via your employer, not Devon Pension Services (although we can obviously provide you with general information regarding the process).
For reference, we have made the policy for Devon County Council (141KB - pdf help) available (this is also available on the internal "HR Guidance & Policy" pages). If you do not work for DCC, you should contact your employers Human Resources department and ask them for the relevant policy document.
My pension has suffered a 'modification' deduction. What is this deduction for? This deduction has been applied to your pension due to your having a period of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) membership between 6th July 1948 and 31st March 1980. During this time, you would have paid a lower rate of contribution compared to that of your post-April 1980 service. In order to make up the short-fall, the contribution difference is recouped from your pension on an annual basis (roughly £1.70 for every year of membership which falls between the dates shown). The deductions commence as soon as you reach state retirement age.
Will my pension be affected if I re-commence employment with a local authority (or otherwise LGPS eligible) employer? If you are in receipt of a pension from the LGPS, entering a new employment covered by the LGPS could well affect the value of your pension. As a rule, your pension will not be affected if - Pension + New Salary = less than the salary you originally retired on (modified to take inflation into account). We would ask you to contact us the minute you know your hours and salary details or even if you are only thinking about applying for a new job. We will then do some calculations for you and confirm how much (if at all) your pension will be reduced by. You only need to inform us if you have become re-employed by an LGPS employer. For further information, please consult our re-employment notes.
What happens if a pensioner becomes unable to organise their own affairs due to illness/senility? We are able to accept correspondence on behalf of a pensioner, even though they may not personally have written/composed the letter, as long as there is proof that they approve of its contents (i.e. the pensioners signature on the bottom of the document). This arrangement should cover the majority of issues a pensioner would normally have with us (address changes, bank account changes etc).
If the pensioner is unable to sign documents or take any responsibility for their actions, it may be that you (or someone else close to the pensioner) require Power of Attorney. This will remove the necessity for proof of the pensioners acceptance, allowing you to act with complete authority on their behalf. For more information about this process, please visit www.guardianship.gov.uk and familiarise yourself with the sections relating to 'Enduring Power of Attorney'.
Is it possible to have my pension paid into a bank or building society account that isn't registered under my name? Unfortunately, we are unable to pay a pension into an account other than that belonging to the pensioner in question. We are allowed to pay the money into a joint bank account however; as long as the pensioner to whom the payments are being paid is one of the recognised account holders.
Finally, we are not allowed to pay your pension, either in part or full, to an organisation or private individual as payment of services/goods received (or charitable donation); the full pension must be paid specifically to you. The sole exception to this being the compliance with occasional court demands for a specific payment via an 'Attachment of Earnings Order' (to which we have a legal obligation to meet).
Could I have my pension paid as a cheque, rather than into a bank account? BACS (Bank Automated Clearing System) has proven to be infinitely more reliable than sending cheques out every month; not only in speed of delivery and convenience, but reliability as well (especially at times of industrial action i.e. postal strikes). As a result, Devon Pension Services is rapidly adopting a policy of only paying cheques to people who are not permitted to open a bank account (although we are far from cancelling payments to existing paid-by-cheque pensioners!).
Why has my tax gone up this month? What happens if I don't agree with the tax code being applied? Your tax code is likely to have changed (the Inland Revenue should have sent you notification of this through the post). We apply the tax-codes and ensure the correct payments are made from the monthly payroll, but we are unable to influence the code itself; the tax office has sole responsibility for such matters. As a result, any query on your tax should be made in the first instance to the Inland Revenue Call-Centre on 0845 366 7830 (they can help you faster if you have your National Insurance number to hand). They will be able to tell you why you have your current code, why it (may have) changed and, if they agree that it's incorrect, will arrange to have a new one sent to us.
When can I expect my pension to be paid into my bank account every month? Pensions are paid on the last working day of every month. If the end of the month happens to fall on a weekend, the pay date will be brought forward to the preceding Friday (even though banks open on a Saturday, for payroll requirements we do not recognise this as a 'working day'). Payments generally take no longer than one complete working day in order to pass through BACS (Bank Account Clearing System).
Why don't I receive a payslip every month? We stopped sending monthly payslips out in October 2003; at the recommendation of our pensioners as well as an attempt to reduce costs and environmental waste. It became apparent that the overwhelming majority of pensioners saw no need for a payslip every month, particularly as pension payments are less prone to change than a salary (the amount is generally the same month-to-month, due to a lack of additional payments; overtime, travel expenses, honorariums etc). Pay advices are still sent out every April and May (end of financial year details), and are still sent out to any member whose pension has seen a net change that month of more/less than £1.
My P60 shows that I received less pension this year than the Annual Pension figure found on my pay-advice would otherwise suggest? This discrepancy is due to the fact that that the figure on your pay advice - Annual Pension - operates on the calendar year; each month commencing on the 1st. The figure on the P60 however, operates on the financial year; the new financial year often not starting until the second week of the month (Pensions Increase is always applied from the first Monday after the 6th April). The week or two difference between these dates is the reason why the figures will never be exactly the same (you are still receiving your full entitlement; it's just those first couple of weeks which fall into the previous financial year).
Can you provide me with a replacement for my mislaid/never received P60? We can provide you with the information your P60 would have shown, although we are unable to provide a duplicate of the P60 itself. As a result, the information you receive shall be in the form of a letter. This letter shall contain the same information your P60 would normally show (pay totals, pay by employment, tax for the year, tax code operated etc). Please contact us through the usual channels, stating which tax year details you wish to be provided with.
I wish to nominate a person to whom my death grant is paid in the event of my death. How do I do this? if you would like to make provision for particular members of your family, we would ask that you include a section in your Will which contains the necessary details. It should be noted that you can only nominate a recipient of the death grant; the survivor's pension shall be paid automatically to any eligible child and/or spouse/civil partner.
The April 2008 'New Look' scheme brought in legislation which allows for cohabiting partners (who are eligible to marry or perform a civil ceremony) to nominate their partner as the recipient of benefits payable on your death. Any such nomination has to be made before the scheme members death in order to qualify (it cannot be completed retrospectively). Despite the introduction of this new form for cohabiting partners, the aforementioned procedure for a death grant should still be followed - the 'Cohabiting Partner' form is only used to nominate the recipient of a survivors pension; not the one-off death grant.
Do I need to keep you informed of my home address? Yes you do. Your employer will not always keep us up to date on address changes, so informing our department directly is always a sensible course of action. Without a current address, we are unable to keep you informed of important information regarding your pension benefits. Deferred members in particular should notify us immediately whenever they move house; when your benefits are due to come into payment, we will contact you at your last known address, enquiring how/when you would like to receive your pension payments. Without an up-to-date address, we will have to go through a letter forwarding service - a process which can take some time and will inevitably delay receipt of your benefits (if it's successful at all of course).
Can I inform you of a change in address/bank details over the telephone? Due to auditing reasons, we are unable to accept changes in details over the telephone; it is a requirement made of us to have every change to a member's record in writing/on-file. If a change in details is required (or an estimate request, transfer-out etc), please contact us either at our postal address, or online (details to be found at the Current/Deferred/Pensioner areas).
A friend/colleague of mine has received their statement but I haven't? Annual Benefit Statements for DCC employee's are sent out in pay reference order. As such, offices/establishments with an earlier pay reference (A0102 for example) are more likely to receive their statements before establishments with a later reference (Y8500's). Considering the fact that sending out the ABS's takes us roughly 2-3 weeks (not including organising and batching the statements beforehand) it may now be clear just why every current member doesn't receive their statement on the same day! (and this of course doesn't factor in the vagaries of the postal system). If you still haven't received a statement after 3 weeks or so, please contact us and we will arrange to have a duplicate sent out to you.
If you are employed by a District Council or Admitted Body, your arrangements are likely to be different to those mentioned above. ABS's are sent directly to your employer's payroll department, who are then responsible for releasing the statements by whatever method suits them best. A time-frame of 1 week from when your colleague's first received their statements would be a realistic expectation. If you haven't received one by this time, please contact us.
The Final Pay Figure shown is more/less than I actually earn? The figure shown is the average pensionable pay you have received (plus pay award increase) within the preceding financial year (NOT your current salary scale). It is uprated to a full-time equivalent figure (37 hours a week, 52 weeks a year), so this figure could be much higher than your accustomed to if you are a part-time employee. If the figure is less than anticipated, it could be that some of your earnings (various bonuses, non-contractual overtime etc) are not pensionable - only pensionable pay is used in your pension calculations.
The total membership shown on the statement is lower than it should be. Why is this? This could be due to a number of reasons, but the most common reasons can be found in the following parts of this FAQ -
In addition to the above, there are the more obvious (yet easily forgotten) reasons; you forgot to transfer previous service, you took a refund of contributions for a small part of service, you didn't join the scheme from the start of an employment etc. If you still cannot see where the discrepancy arises, please contact our office and we shall try to help as best we can.
Are Added Years included in the Benefit Statement? The actual number of Added Years you have purchased are not shown on the Annual Benefit Statement, but the calculations themselves DO take the added years into account; both the pension figure and lump sum figure should reflect the additional service you have purchased.
Are Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC's) included in the Benefit Statement? AVC's are NOT included in the Benefit Statements. The payments for your AVC's go into a totally different plan to that of your Local Government pension, and as such are kept separate from the benefit forecasts. You should receive a separate statement from your AVC provider informing you of the current value of your contributions, although exactly when you receive such a statement is ultimately down to your AVC provider.
(141KB - pdf help) available (this is also available on the internal "HR Guidance & Policy" pages). If you do not work for DCC, you should contact your employers Human Resources department and ask them for the relevant policy document.
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