EPN653 - Member Contributions 2022/23

Audience

This notice will be of interest to:

• HR managers
• Payroll managers
• Pension leads
• Communication managers/leads/business partners
• Internal communication managers/business partners

Actions

• To work with your payroll provider to ensure that employee contribution rates and salary thresholds from 2021/22 can be rolled forward to apply from 1 April 2022.
  
  
• To communicate with your employees that there will be no change to the member contribution rates.

Timing

• Immediate
  

Detail

1. A rollover of the 2021/22 contribution rates and salary bandings to 2022/23 was proposed with an open consultation announced on 22 November 2021. The proposal is to extend (and not alter) the current member contributions rates and the associated annualised rate of pensionable earnings bands from 1 April 2022.

2. This followed HM Treasury's announcement of the un-pausing of the cost cap process, with actuarial results expected late in 2021. Preliminary advice informed that it was highly unlikely a breach in the cost cap would occur. Subsequently the results of the 2016 valuation, released on 17 December 2021, determined there was no breach to the cost cap.

3. 2021/22 member contribution rates and thresholds will continue to apply unchanged from 1 April 2022. Legislative amendments to the pension scheme rules which relate to this policy were consulted on between 22 November and 17 January. Read the the response to the consultation, ‘A draft Statutory Instrument (SI) covering the move to alpha and member contributions from 1 April 2022 for civil service pension scheme members’.

Table 1 – Employee pension contribution rates from 1 April 2022

Annualised rate of pensionable earnings	Member contribution rate
£0 to £23,100	4.60%
£23,101 to £56,000	5.45%
£56,001 to £150,000	7.35%
£150,001 and above	8.05%

4. The above contribution rates will apply until further notice.

Contacts

If you have a question about the distribution of EPNs contact Karen Wilson Karen.wilson@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

If you have a question about the distribution of EPNs, or would like to receive them in a different format, please contact EPN@MyCSP.co.uk.

You can find electronic copies of the Employer Pension Guide, all current EPNs and forms in the Employer section of the Civil Service Pensions website.

This notice is for employers and should not be issued to scheme members.

Members can find information about their pension by visiting the member's section.