Date posted: 01/02/2008
Audience: This Notice will be of particular interest and importance to:
- HR Managers and staff who have responsibility for the administration of the partnership pension account, the CSAVCS and the stakeholder arrangement; and
- Payroll managers and staff who handle payments to the money purchase providers.
Action: HR Managers and staff are asked to:
- adopt web based scheduling as the method for making pension contributions; and
- liaise with your payroll managers and the money purchase providers to implement web based scheduling by 30 April 2008.
Timing: By 30 April 2008
- EPN182 issued in August 2007 explained that web based scheduling is the preferred method through which employers and their payroll providers notify the partnership pension account, stakeholder and CSAVC scheme providers of employer and employee contributions. We asked employers to contact the providers and sign up to web based scheduling within 6 months of the issue of EPN182.
- This EPN tells those of you who are not yet using web-based scheduling that you must do so by 30 April 2008. If there is any reason you cannot meet this timescale you must contact the employer helpdesk immediately giving full details.
Web based payment method EPN 207
- Any payment received after this date will mean a shortfall in the amount of money applied to the member’s investment and it will be for the employer to ensure any loss to the employee is made good.
What is web based scheduling?
- Web based scheduling is a method of sending the monthly schedule with member contribution information and data via the providers’ websites. This will replace the schedule your payroll provider currently emails to the money purchase providers every month. Web based scheduling will not only simplify the process through which you send across payments to the providers, it will ensure greater accuracy of data and improve the timeliness of the payments.
- You can use web based scheduling to automatically deduct the total contributions listed on the schedule from your payroll account. The money is not deducted until you submit your schedule. Alternatively you can use web based scheduling for the transmission of member information but carry on making your payments in the normal way.
Handling of Pension Data
- EPN203 explained that personal member information classified as restricted should not be sent via email to an external, non gsi, email address. The monthly schedules are restricted information as they contain the member’s National Insurance number which the provider needs to identify the member’s account, therefore you should not be using email to transfer this information.
- Because paper schedules require manual input which takes time and can result in errors, they will not be accepted by the providers after the 19 May 2008 (this is the latest date by which April payments must be received by the providers). Any schedules received by post after this date, or schedules that do not hold the member’s National Insurance number will be returned.
Security
- Web based scheduling provides the most secure way of sending the monthly schedules thereby complying with all the security requirements for sending personal pension data to third party providers. All the providers websites have been rigorously tested by independent specialists as described in EPN182. Their systems all exceed BS7799 compliance standards and meet financial sector security compliance as required by the Financial Services Authority.
What Payments can be submitted via web-based scheduling?
- All contributions to the Civil Service money purchase schemes can be submitted via the respective providers secure web sites. They are:
- partnership pension account - administered by Standard Life, Scottish Widows and TUC/Prudential;
- Stakeholder scheme administered by Standard Life; and
- Civil Service AVC scheme - administered by Standard Life and Scottish Widows
What you need to do now
- Contact the providers and request access to their websites. You will need to contact each provider separately about access; and
- Tell them who in your organisation will be submitting the schedules. It will only take a few minutes to register with each provider.
- The providers have each developed an information booklet about their secure websites which they will send you on request or you can read or download the booklet from their websites. They are also available to give you any additional information, training and support you may require. The three provider web sites are all easy to use and all meet the highest level of security at least 128 bit inscription.
- You may receive a phone call from the providers if you are not already submitting your schedules on line asking you to sign up to web-based scheduling in an effort to help all employers start using this method by 30 April 2008. We will be monitoring take up along with the providers and will be writing to those of you who have not registered to use web based scheduling by mid April 2008.
Provider contact details
Contact: Robin Stirling, Scheme Manager - TEL 0131 245 5208
Email Robin_Stirling@standardlife.com
Contacts: Heike Burnell and Georgina Deacon TEL: 0845 070 6666
E-mail: civilservice@prudential.co.uk Web based payment method EPN 207
Contact: Adele Robertson TEL: 0131 655 2251
Email: adele.robertson@scottishwidows.co.uk
Equitable Life
- Unfortunately Equitable Life do not have a web-based scheduling facility but they will accept paper schedules or CD/floppydisk/USB stick if the data is encrypted to AES 256 bit standard and protected by complex password. The data should be transported by secure courier using a tracked service in the same way as you send your payroll interface files to your APAC.
Reference
This document refers to EPN182 and EPN203.
Contacts
Enquiries about content, distribution or to receive in a different format
employerhelpdesk@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
01256 846414
Employer Helpdesk
Civil Service Pensions
Grosvenor House
Basing View
Basingstoke
RG21 4HG
