Date posted: 11/06/2018

Audience

  • Pension leads and HR mangers
  • Internal communications managers

Summary

  • Annual Benefit Statements (ABS) and Pension Savings Statements (PSS) distribution will commence mid-June 2018. ABS will be completed by 31 August 2018 and PSS by 6 October 2018.
  • Management Information (MI) will be provided for both ABS and PSS; including early indicative MI for members expected to receive a PSS.
  • Free Pension Saving Statement (PSS) Awareness sessions for Civil Service employers will be made available.
  • Group member tax awareness sessions and if required, pension tax one-to-one sessions for members will be available.
  • Completion of end of year interface file submissions.
  • Details of how to contact MyCSP, the Pension Scheme Administrator (Scheme Administrator) are provided.
  • All member ABS queries received by 31 December 2018 will be resolved by 28 February 2019.

Actions

  • To ensure that end of year payroll closure and interface requirements have been completed on time.
  • To note the period during which Annual Statements will be sent to members.
  • To inform members about when they can expect to receive their statement(s).
  • To review the MI provided and work with the Scheme Administrator as necessary to ensure all eligible members receive their statement(s).
  • To be aware of the dedicated ABS and PSS pages on the Civil Service Pension Scheme website (from mid- June) and promote these to your members.
  • For employers to attend a free-of-charge PSS Awareness training session to support you in undertaking your responsibilities to any of your members who receive a PSS.
  • For Civil Service employers to provide employer funded group and/or one-to-one tax awareness sessions for members who receive a PSS.
  • To direct members with queries to the correct source of help depending on the nature of their query.

Timing

  • Immediate

Detail

Each year, all eligible scheme members are issued with an ABS. Additionally, members who may have a supplementary tax charge to pay in relation to their pension benefits are also issued with a PSS. Together, these documents are referred to as Pensions Annual Statements.

Payroll closure and interface requirements

1. In order to meet this year’s deadlines for issuing Annual Statements and to provide you with information to support the completion of Annual Reports and Accounts, you must have provided the Scheme Administrator with the following.

  • Your regular interfaces, no more than two days before or after your agreed submission date (unless you have agreed an earlier submission date with the Scheme Administrator to support the completion of your Annual Reports and Accounts).
  • Confirmation of CARE Year End closure (closing down the financial year for CARE scheme members)
  • Provision of the additional five-day Pension Input Period (PIP) data

See EPN 531 for further information on the submission of monthly interfaces. 

2. If you have not yet done this, you must contact the Scheme Administrator immediately. Failure to submit the required end of year data on time may result in inaccurate Annual Statements or even non-distribution of statements to members who are eligible to receive one. 

Distribution dates

Distribution of Annual Statements will commence in mid-June and be completed for ABS by the regulatory deadline of 31 August 2018. For PSS, the regulatory deadline is 6 October 2018, however, the Scheme Administrator has committed to delivering as close to 100% of PSS by 31 August 2018, to allow the maximum possible time for employers and members to plan and organise any necessary activities.

Statement delivery

We issue Annual Statements to members’ home addresses (unless, for security reasons, you have already agreed alternative arrangements with the Scheme Administrator). Detailed distribution schedules and trackers will be provided for both ABS and PSS on the dedicated Annual Statements web pages from mid - June 2018. These will provide you with information about when your eligible employees can expect to receive their statements.

Management Information (MI)

The Scheme Administrator will be contacting all employers to ask for the contact details of the most appropriate person in your organisation to receive Annual Statements MI.

The following MI will be provided to employers.

PSS

  • To help you with planning and funding arrangements for group and one-to-one tax awareness sessions for your employees, we will provide indicative PSS MI by 15 June 2018. This will not be member specific but will contain the number of members in your organisation we expect to issue a PSS to in 2018.
  • Following the completion of calculations, complete and member specific PSS MI will be issued to all employers by 10 September 2018.

ABS

  • Details of when your organisation’s statements are being distributed will be available from 15 June 2018 on the dedicated ABS pages on the member section of our website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk
  • When we are ready to distribute your ABS, we’ll produce MI of the members in your organisation for who we’ve successfully produced a statement for. You’ll then be able to check this MI against your HR records to identify any eligible employees who we may have been unable to produce a statement for.
  • Following completion of the ABS exercise on 31 August, you will also receive a final MI list by 7 September 2018.
  • If you have any queries about potentially missed members, please wait until you have received your final MI list before contacting the Scheme Administrator

Eligibility criteria required to produce ABS

In order for us to produce a 2018 ABS, the member must:

1. be an active or active pensioner member of either the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme or alpha at the time of production; and

2. have been an active or active pensioner member of either the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme or alpha on 31 March 2018.

In addition:

3. employers must also have provided a sufficient record of pension contributions (or pensionable earnings for members of alpha or nuvos) for the 2017/18 scheme year.

Eligibility criteria required to produce a PSS

We will send a 2018 PSS to members who meet one or more of the following criteria: 

  1. they have exceeded the Annual Allowance limit of £40,000* in 2017/18;
  2. they earn over £100,000; or
  3. they have requested one.

* Please note –

High-Income Individuals may be subject to a tapered Annual Allowance.

Further information and guidance on how to calculate tapered annual allowance can be found on HMRC’s website - www.gov.uk/guidance/pension-schemes-work-out-your-tapered-annual-allowance

Support for employers

  • The detailed ABS and PSS pages will be available on the Civil Service Pensions website from mid - June 2018. These are a valuable source of information. Please take the time to view them and promote them to your employees.
  • To support you in carrying out your responsibilities, the Scheme Administrator will once again be providing PSS Awareness sessions for Civil Service employers. Sessions will take place throughout June 2018. They are free of charge and open to all Civil Service employers. Please see EPN 532 for information about how to book a session.
  • Detailed MI (as described above) will be provided, and it’s important that you work promptly with the Scheme Administrator to ensure that all eligible members receive their statements by the regulatory deadline.

Support for members

  • Responding to feedback from last year, the PSS has been significantly redesigned so that the information about pension tax liabilities is clearer and easier to understand.
  • Once again, detailed information will be available on the dedicated ABS and PSS pages Civil Service Pensions website. This is a valuable source of information and should be the first place that both employers and members go to for more information about ABS and PSS.
  • The Scheme Administrator will offer group tax awareness sessions and if required, pension tax one-to-one sessions for members who may have a tax charge to pay in relation to their pension benefits. Alternatively, you may wish to arrange your own sessions with another provider. In line with previous years, if you are a Civil Service employer, you are required to fund these sessions. If you are not a Civil Service employer, you are not obliged to provide these sessions but are encouraged to do so. For information about how to book a session, please see EPN 532 or visit:

www.mycsp.co.uk/training/training-services/civil-service-member-training/

Member queries relating to ABS and PSS

Depending on the nature of their query, members need to direct it to the appropriate source of help.

1. Queries regarding their pension scheme information (for example their employment history, reckonable service, the date they joined, transfer in history, extra benefits), should be made to the Scheme Administrator. This can be done in one of three ways.

  • 1. By email:

for ABS: absqueries@mycsp.co.uk

for PSS: pss@mycsp.co.uk

Members who send their query by email will receive an auto response confirming receipt.

  • 2. By phone for ABS and PSS: 0300 123 6666.

  • 3. By post for ABS and PSS: Civil Service Pensions, PO Box 2017, Liverpool, L69 2BU.

Please note: members should include copies of any supporting documentation when emailing or writing to the Scheme Administrator.

2. For queries relating to a member’s personal details (for example date of birth, National Insurance number, home or work address); members should contact their HR department or Shared Service provider.

Employer queries

Employers can contact the Scheme Administrator using the dedicated email address: SEABS@mycsp.co.uk

Replacement statements

Members can request a free copy of either their original ABS or PSS up until 31 October 2018. In line with previous years, from 1 November 2018, a charge of £21.59 + VAT will apply.

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 the Pension Scheme Administrator (MyCSP).
Published:
11 June 2018
Last updated:
24 April 2023