EPN679 - Resource Accounts: 2022/23 disclosure of salary, pension and compensation information

Audience

This notice is for staff involved in the preparation of Remuneration Reports required for the Annual Resource Accounts exercise. It will be of particular interest to:

• Finance directors and managers; and
• Pension leads

Important information

• HM Treasury have advised that all Resource Accounts Remuneration reports should be published before Summer recess. This means that most employers will need to publish accounts by 30 June 2023 and for Scottish Government and departments reporting to them, Government Resource Accounts Remuneration reports should be published by the end of August 2023
• To ensure that employers are able to meet the deadlines, we have adjusted our processes, where we will utilise the data provided by employers as at the end of January 2023 and calculations will be projected to the end of March for the remaining two months.
• Scottish Government and their departments with a reporting deadline of the end of August 2023 will provide the data as at the end of March 2023.
• All employers are required to complete the Annex 13A listing all board members in scope and provide to MyCSP by 14 March 2023.
• All employers are obliged to provide any expected changes on the annex to pay etc. which are not on the January interface but which relate to the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.
• The calculations will be processed in three tranches, provided that the Annex 13A and the January payroll interface data has been provided by  14 March 2023.
• Tranche one, aim to be issued to employers by 28 April 2023 (no data changes required).
• Tranche two, aim to be issued to employers by 31 May 2023 (for late submissions of Annex 13A, or changes required to the data).
• Tranche three, (Scottish Government and departments only) aim to be issued to employers by 30 June 2023.

Please note; the format of the Annex 13A  has been changed. The same information is being requested but there are a number of validation checks built in to the form to ensure that correct information is being submitted.

All employers to be aware that the Resource Account calculations are based on gross pay only which does not include scheme pays, pension sharing orders or Remedy rectification.

If employers have not provided their interface data as at January 2023, these calculations will potentially be subject to missing the 30 June deadline.

Actions

• Note the guidance for the disclosure of salary, pension and compensation information in Section 13 of the Employer Pension Guide (EPG). Please note: this EPN highlights new information and encloses copies of the relevant annexes
• In order to obtain pension information on staff covered by the Remuneration Report, you will need to complete Annex 13A of the EPG and send it to the Scheme Administrator (MyCSP)
• To obtain pension information on Ministers covered by the Remuneration Report, you will need to complete Annex 13B of the EPG and send it to RPMI (the administrator of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund)
• Note the example Remuneration Report in Annex 13C of the EPG
• Send the notice in  Annex 13D of the EPG to all staff covered by the Remuneration Report
• Note the additional guidance in Annex 13E that explains why the difference between the ‘start’ and ‘end’ of Cash Equivalent Transfer Values are in some cases considerably higher than the real increases in the CETV.

Timing

• Immediate - you must carry out the actions above as soon as possible.

Detail

1. The Resource Accounts of organisations covered by the Civil Service pension arrangements must include a Remuneration Report of information about the salary and pension packages of Ministers and their senior management team.
2. Section 13 of the Employer Pension Guide (EPG) contains detailed guidance about what should be included in your Remuneration Report. Please refer to this guidance if you have any questions about the disclosure of salary, bonus, pension, and compensation information in your report.

   
   Requesting pension information from the Scheme Administrator
   

3. You are responsible for identifying the individuals whose details should be included in your Remuneration Report, and for requesting pension information from the Scheme Administrator.
4. To request pension information from the Scheme Administrator, you will need to complete Annex 13A in Section 13 of the EPG. You will need to contact your payroll provider in order to obtain some of the information that you need to give to the Scheme Administrator. Please note: you do not need to include figures from last year’s exercise.
5. When you have completed Annex 13A please return it to the Scheme Administrator as soon as possible. Please email your completed Annex 13A to:
   resourceaccounts2023@mycsp.co.uk
   
6. You must complete Annex 13A fully and accurately. For information on how to complete Annex 13A, please refer to Section 13 of the EPG.
   
   N.B: For Column F of the Annex; If you have advised that there will be changes in earnings for the February/March interface, you must update your interface with this information accordingly.
   
   
7. To request PCSPS/Alpha Ill Health retirement details from your Administrator, you will need to email: resourceaccounts2023@mycsp.co.uk. Please refer to Section 13 of the EPG.
   
   
8. IMPORTANT: The Scheme Administrator will not be able to provide you with pension information unless:
   
   a) you have completed Annex 13A fully and accurately no later than 14 March 2023;
   b) they have received and processed the interface from your January payroll; and
   c) you have provided details of any changes in the pay details for February or March.
   
   
9. If all criteria have been met, the Scheme Administrator will provide you with the pension information in accordance with the completion dates stated earlier.
10. Any delays in not meeting the above criteria will need to be reviewed on an individual basis to agree a revised completion date. Prioritisation will be given to employers who have met the relevant criteria.
11. To reduce the risk of transcribing errors, the Scheme Administrator will send you the results (both inputs and outputs) from the calculator they use to produce the information. This includes all the pension figures you need for the Remuneration Report.
    

    
    Example Remuneration Report (Annex13B)
    

12. Annex 13B contains requirements for 2023 – Important please read.
    
13. Please note that the process for 2023 has been reviewed and agreed with the PCPF Secretariat at the House of Commons.
14. Receipt of Annexes ahead of commencement of work – We will wait to receive all 13B Annexes from all Departments before we start reviewing the scope and providing the pricing. All work for this project needs to be scoped at once, as there might be ministers appearing on multiple Annexes.
15. Unpaid Ministers - please flag entries to Buck where you have recorded a minister on an annex who is either being paid by another department or is not receiving a ministerial salary.
16. Cost approval – We require each department to confirm their acceptance of the cost and timescales quoted via email, along with a PO number for the Buck invoice (if required). At this stage we will commence the work to produce the figures.
17. Invoices – An invoice will be issued by Buck for urgent settlement by government departments.
18. Settlement of invoices –The figures will only be provided to government department once the invoices have been processed and funds received into the Buck bank account.
19. Please see process map.
    

    
    Key dates for 2023

20. To set clear expectations on all sides and improve the chances of a seamless project, our process is structured around the following important dates:
    a) 27/02/2023 – Departments should send Annex 13B to the National Projects Team before this date and please make clear if there is a specific reporting date required (earliest date available is 30th April).
    b) 15/03/2023 – Deadline for Buck NPT to send to the Departments the costs and timescales.
    c) 24/03/2023 – Departments to confirm Buck NPT can proceed with work, costs and timeframes agreed and PO number supplied. An invoice will be raised within 10 working days of receipt of this confirmation.
    d) 10/04/2023 – Departments to provide final Annex 13B forms to account for any late movements in period.
21. Please note that any additional movements will be charged and a separate PO will need to be raised.
22. Please note that these dates are provisional and are dependent on NPT receiving all the required Annex forms and also having received the updated calculation forms from GAD.
23. *** Please forward this email to any other individuals who will be dealing with the Disclosure of Pension Information for your relevant department during 2023.
24. Should you have any questions, please email Nationalprojects@buck.com
    

    
    Example Remuneration Report (Annex 13C)
    

25. Annex 13C contains an example Remuneration Report  that shows how pay, pension and compensation information is presented. Apart from an update to the figures and dates, the only other change is that severance payments made to former Ministers are now disclosed.
    

    
    Note to senior staff covered by Remuneration Report (Annex 13D)
    

26. Please issue the note contained in Annex 13D of Section 13 of the EPG to all staff who will be included in the Remuneration Report to provide advance warning of the exercise. Once you have obtained all the necessary figures, you should provide the staff in question with details of what you propose to publish and invite them to correct any factual errors.
    

    
    Figures that will be used by the Scheme Administrator this year
    

27. When calculating the real increase in CETV and the pension benefits accrued during the year 2022-23 for the single total figure of remuneration, the Scheme Administrator will take account of inflation. 
28. The CPI increase for September 2022 was 10.1%. Consequently, the Pensions Increase (PI) factor for April 2023 will be 10.1%. The in-service revaluation factor for alpha will also be 10.1%.
29. The earnings that count towards the calculation of final salary pensions is limited for some staff to a figure referred to as the “earnings cap” or “permitted maximum”. Where this is relevant, the Scheme Administrator will calculate pensions based on the 2022-23 earnings cap of £181,800.
30. Another scenario where there can be negative results is where a member is over their Normal Pension Age (NPA). The factors used to calculate the CETV are such that the value of pension that could have been taken at NPA decreases as the member gets older.
31. When the Scheme Administrator supplies you with the requested pension information, they will explain the reasons for any real decrease in CETV or pension element of the single figure of remuneration. They will also provide you with the combined information you need for your reports with the relevant rounding applied.
    

    
    Further support available to you

32. More information can be found on the Resource Accounts Exercise page. 
33. If you have read EPN679 and still have a query regarding the submission of your Remuneration Report, please email: resourceaccounts2023@mycsp.co.uk or contact your Employer Relationship Manager.
34. If you experience an issue regarding your monthly interface, please contact your Interface Analyst (IA) at: interfaceteam@mycsp.co.uk

Contacts

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.