This EPN provides additional information about the Defined Contribution (DC) Transition Project and the actions required by employers.
1. In EPN 527, we confirmed Legal & General (L&G) as the new DC provider and asked employers and payroll leads to initiate change requests in order to implement the transition to the new provider on 1 September 2018.
2. In EPN533, EPN538, and EPN539 we provided further information about the transition project and guidance on the actions required by employers.
3. Following on from those updates, in this EPN, we have included further detailed updates to help employers navigate the transition.
New joiners from 1 June 2018
1. From 1 June 2018, new joiner packs will refer to L&G as the Partnership pension provider.
2. Any staff member who wishes to join Partnership will need to complete an application form. The form is called ‘The Partnership Pension Account application form’. For information, the link is shown below:
Partnership Pension Account Application Form
3. The application form is for use by employers to action their staff member’s request and should not be forwarded to L&G. It should be retained on your records alongside the Pension Choices Form.
4. You can request a new joiner pack by completing the New Starter Pack Request Form which can be found here: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/employers/employer-forms/
5. Please do not use locally stored versions of the new joiner pack downloaded from the Civil Service Pensions website as it is likely that this will not be the most up to date version.
Scheme members requesting a switch to the Partnership Pension Account
6. An updated Switching form is now available and can be found via the link below:
7. Any staff member who wishes to join Partnership will need to complete an application form. The form is called ‘The Partnership Pension Account application form’ and a link to the form is included in the new joiner pack. For information, the link is also shown below:
The Partnership Pension Account Application Form
8. These forms are for the use of employers to action their staff member’s request and should not be forwarded to L&G. The application form should be retained on your records alongside the Switching form.
Legal requirements for employer engagement with the L&G Master Trust
9. We confirmed in EPN539 that in order to participate in the L&G Master Trust, employers would need to complete a Master Trust Deed of Participation.
10. This is required for each section of the Master Trust in which you have active members. If you have members in both the Civil Service Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme (CSAVCS) and Partnership sections, you will need to complete two deeds.
11. Thank you to all employers who have provided the relevant execution details to allow L&G to create the relevant deeds. If you have received a request for information and have not yet responded then please do so as a matter of urgency.
12. The deeds will be emailed to the registered employer contact by L&G with instructions for action. We will email you separately to advise of the email address that L&G will use and ask that you add the email address to your contact or ‘white list’ to ensure that it’s not treated as a spam email, ensuring that you receive it promptly.
13. We expect the deeds to be emailed on or around 14 June and ask that the deeds be returned promptly but by no later than 13 July.
Employer access to L&G’s Interface
14. Employers will be given access to the ‘Manage My Submissions’ portal with effect from 1 September, subject to the Participation deed(s) being completed and returned satisfactorily.
15. In order to allocate access, L&G will issue an e-form alongside the Master Trust Participation deed. The email will confirm details of the requirements.
16. Please note that there is a maximum number of two staff members who can be provided with access to the portal for each submission file. It is possible to have two staff members who have authority to submit the New Joiner file and another two staff members who have authority to submit the Contributions file. You should consider who it is appropriate to nominate, given who within your organisation would process this information.
Member engagement
17. We remain on schedule to write to active members of the AVC and Partnership schemes, in July 2018, to advise them of the impact of the DC Transition Project.
18. It is imperative that the members understand the changes being made to their pension scheme and we ask you to support this process. The attached document reflects planned activity up to September 2018 and how you can help to support your members. Please see Annex 1 below.
19. As previously noted in EPN539, members of the AVC scheme who are with Equitable Life are being excluded from the transition project due to the guarantees and special terms available with their policies. If any of your members with Unit Linked only plans, where contributions are still being made, they are likely to see them transferred. If this is the case, we will contact you separately.
20. Further letters in relation to the transfer of existing pension pots are scheduled for issue in October and November 2018 and details will be made available in the August EPN.
21. Legal & General have launched a microsite that provides details of the new arrangements. You can access the site via this link: www.legalandgeneral.com/csp
This link takes you to the landing page and you can then select, which scheme you wish to look at.
Each scheme has a Member Booklet and an Investment Guide and these can be found in the relevant Document Library. Details of the charges and investment proposition for a scheme are incorporated into these guides.
Items for inclusion in future EPNs
1. Details of the support to be provided to members through the transition process.
2. Member engagement on the transfer of existing pension pots.
3. Arrangements for employer and payroll enrolment and training on the L&G interface.
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Contacts If you require further assistance on the content of this EPN, please contact DC.Transition@cabinetoffice.gov.uk . If you have a question about the distribution of EPNs or you need to receive them in a different format contact employerpensionnotice@cabinetoffice.gov.uk You can find electronic copies of the Employers’ Pension Guide, all current EPNs and forms on our website www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk under ‘Employers’. 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 at: |