HMRC require accrued pension to be valued precisely as at the closing date of the Pension Input Period (PIP) on 5 April. This means that the accrued pension must be calculated as though the member left service on 5 April. This is a consequence of the change announced at Budget 2015 that all PIPs will in future be aligned to the financial year. Previously, the Civil Service PIP was aligned to the calendar year (1 Jan-31 Dec). For the 2015-16 financial year in which the scheme transitioned from using a calendar year PIP to the financial year HMRC gave special dispensation to use benefits valued at 31 March 2016. The requirement for 5 April earnings is therefore a new requirement for the 2016-17 financial year.
The HMRC requirement to precisely value members’ pension as at the end of the financial year means that MyCSP will need additional information about members’ pensionable earnings to perform the calculation of pension benefits as at 5 April where they are members of nuvos or alpha. For members in the final salary sections the monthly information provided on the normal April interface is sufficient to enable MyCSP to calculate benefits accurately at 5 April.
In addition, if any member is making added years or added pension contributions monthly you should also supply these contributions for the period from 1 – 5 April so that MyCSP can accurately calculate the benefits at 5 April.
Whilst ideally the payroll interface should be amended to capture this additional information we recognise that there is no scope for changes to the April 2017 payroll interface to be made at this late stage. This necessitates a different approach for 2017, and payrolls will need to provide the required information in a different format.
MyCSP are currently working with a number of employers and payroll providers to identify the most appropriate format in which payrolls can provide members’ pensionable earnings data for 1-5 April (inclusive) 2017. It is anticipated that the employer will need to provide data using the manual interface spreadsheet. The only worksheet that will be required to be completed is the Pay History worksheet with one line per member in receipt of alpha/nuvos pensionable earnings and/or added pension contributions.
You should begin to engage with your payroll provider in advance of MyCSP contacting you to start to explore the work required for your payroll provider to provide pensionable earnings for the period 1-5 April (inclusive) 2017 to MyCSP. MyCSP will discuss this with you through usual interface contacts as part of your next regular monthly interface update call to confirm how this information should be supplied. If you don’t submit an interface monthly, you will be contacted by the end of October. Additional support required for the calculation and transmission of this information will be offered at that stage if required. If you have not been contacted by the end of October and are not due a regular monthly interface call within a few days then please send an email to AAearnings@mycsp.co.uk
If you have questions about this EPN please contact Sally Rowles at sally.rowles@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you have a question about the distribution of EPNs contact employerpensionnotice@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
You can find electronic copies of the Employer Pension Guide, all current EPNs and forms on our website.
This notice is for employers and should not be issued to scheme members.
If members have a question about their pension they can find information on this website or by contacting MyCSP.