EPN711 - 2024 Annual Statements exercise - Civil Service Pension Scheme

Audience

Pension leads
HR managers

Summary

We will start to distribute Annual Benefit Statements (ABS) from 1 July and Pension Savings Statements (PSS) from August.
ABS distribution will be completed by 31 August 2024.
PSS distribution will be completed by 6 October 2024.
The 2015 Remedy (McCloud) legislation, which came into effect on 1 October 2023, may impact the distribution of this year’s ABS and PSS statements for some members.
Members impacted by the 2015 Remedy, who qualify for a PSS, will receive a PSS containing Pension Inputs from 2010/11 to 2022/23 (inclusive), known as the ‘Remedy PSS’. After the Remedy PSS, a separate 2023/24 PSS will be issued.

Actions

To note when statements will be distributed, and how members can view/download theirs.
To note the support available to members and employers.
To review the Management Information (MI) provided by the Scheme Administrator.
To work with the Scheme Administrator to ensure that all eligible members receive their statement(s).
To note the impact that the 2015 Remedy will have on the distribution of this year’s ABS and PSS.
To note the Hot Topics Annual Statement Awareness sessions, available to employers.

Timing

Immediate

Detail

Key dates

We have produced this table to help you keep track of key dates during the 2024 Annual Statements exercise.

Activity	Date
ABS distribution start date	1 July
ABS completion date	31 August
ABS Distribution Schedule available	1 July
PSS distribution start date	1 August
PSS completion date	6 October
Remedy period	1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022
ABS MI issued	6 September
Annual Statement Awareness sessions	9 July and 11 July
Indicative PSS MI issued	28 June
Final PSS MI issued	18 October
MI query deadline	31 December

About ABS distribution

ABS are distributed to all eligible members by 31 August each year. The ABS Distribution Schedule shows when members will receive their statement.
As in previous years, ABS will be available online. Unless a member has requested to receive a paper copy of their ABS, they will need to login to the Pension Portal to view/download their statement.
Guidance on how to register and login to the Pension Portal can be found on our website.
Paper copies can be issued upon request. These are either sent to members’ home addresses, or for security reasons, to employers.
Members can download a printable version of their ABS from the Pension Portal.
To receive an ABS, a member must meet the criteria below.

They must be an active or active pensioner member of the Civil Service pension scheme (CSPS) at the time of production.
They were an active member or active pensioner member of the CSPS on 31 March 2024.

In addition to the criteria above, employers must have also provided the Scheme Administrator with a sufficient record of pensionable earnings for alpha members for the 2023/24 scheme year.

About PSS distribution

To receive a Remedy PSS, a member must be subject to the 2015 Remedy in addition to one of the following reasons:

They exceeded the Annual Allowance in any year before or in 2022/23.
They earned over £100,000 in any year before or in 2022/23.
They requested a PSS in any year before or in 2022/23.

To receive a 2023/24 PSS, a member must meet one or more of the following criteria.

They exceeded the 2023/24 Annual Allowance limit of £60,000*.
They earned over £100,000 in the 2023/24 scheme year.
They requested a PSS in advance of the annual statements exercise.

Please note, very high-income individuals may be subject to a tapered Annual Allowance. Information and guidance on how to calculate tapered Annual Allowance can be found on the Work out your reduced (tapered) annual allowance page at gov.uk

ABS and the 2015 Remedy

The 2015 Remedy (McCloud) legislation came into effect on 1 October 2023. Many members aren’t affected by the 2015 Remedy and have benefits in alpha only. Members who are affected have been ‘rolled back’ into their Legacy scheme (classic, classic plus, premium or nuvos) for the Remedy period (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022).
Members can use the ‘Am I Affected tool’ to check if they’re affected by the 2015 Remedy.
If a member is affected by the 2015 Remedy:

the figures shown in their ABS may be different to previous years; and
the benefits in their Reformed scheme (alpha) will start from 1 April 2022.

Members will be given the choice at retirement to take their benefits for the Remedy period in either a) their Legacy scheme, or b) in the alpha scheme. Members will receive a choice illustration document with supporting information to help them make that choice.
The Retirement Modeller (accessed via the Pension Portal) will shortly include alpha benefits for the 2015 Remedy period. The Retirement modeller uses live data, so the figures will be different to those shown in the ABS (which uses data up to 31 March to calculate benefits).

PSS and the 2015 Remedy

Members who qualify to receive a PSS and are impacted by the 2015 Remedy may receive two statements this year. The first contains tax information relating to the Remedy period (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022) and the 2022/2023 tax year, the second containing tax information relating to the 2023/2024 tax year. Members will receive both statements by the 6 October 2024.
Recipients will need to use the Pension Input Amounts (PIA) information provided in their PSS along with HMRC’s Pension Annual Allowance tool at gov.uk to determine if they've exceeded the Annual Allowance for both periods, potentially leading to a tax liability on their pension savings.
A tax charge for either the Remedy period, or the 2022/23 tax year must be reported on the Calculate your public service pension adjustment page at gov.uk. Members should not report it through self-assessment as in previous years.
A tax charge relating to the 2023/24 year should be reported through self-assessment as normal.

Management Information (MI) for employers

ABS MI

Once ABS have been distributed, the Scheme Administrator will provide MI of the members in your organisation they have produced statements for. This will be provided to you by 6 September 2024.
If you have any concerns about members being missed from ABS distribution, please contact SEABS@MYCSP.CO.UK by the deadline above.

PSS MI

The Scheme Administrator will provide you with indicative PSS MI. This is designed to help you to arrange tax awareness sessions for members who may receive a PSS. MyCSP will be delivering standard PSS tax awareness sessions and Remedy PSS tax awareness sessions this year.
Following completion of the PSS distribution, you will receive final MI.
If you believe members who earn over £100,000 are missing from the PSS MI, please contact SEABS@MYCSP.CO.UK by the deadline above.

Support for members and employers

If you need help with any of the following and want to get assistance quickly, here’s what to do.

Activity	Query	Where to go
ABS	The personal information on my ABS is incorrect	Contact your employer or Shared Service Centre
2015 Remedy	Am I Affected Tool	www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/affected
2015 Remedy	Information about the 2015 Remedy	www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/remedy
ABS	Information about Annual Benefit Statements	www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/abs
ABS	The pension information on my ABS is incorrect	www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/abs
PSS	Your pension and tax	www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/pss
PSS	The pension information on my PSS is incorrect	www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/pss
PSS	The personal information on my ABS is incorrect	Contact your employer or Shared Service Centre
PSS	HMRC Pension Allowance Tool technical support & help with complex tax cases	Call: 0300 123 1079 and select Option 1 Email: publicservicepensionsremedy@hmrc.gov.uk
Pension Portal	Pension Portal registration and login help	www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/register
Modeller	How to use the modeller	www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/new-retirement-modeller
Management Information	PSS/ABS queries	Email: SEABS@mycsp.co.uk

Please note: some ABS and PSS queries may be more complex and require additional time to resolve, but members should be assured that the Scheme Administrator will contact them once their query has been addressed.
Members can help to ensure that queries are dealt with as quickly as possible by sending them to the right place.

ABS and PSS training for employers

Hot Topics Annual Awareness sessions for employers are being delivered on 9 and 11 July. These sessions will cover the changes to statements because of the 2015 Remedy, and signpost to further help and support.
Registration is open from 10 June. Register here.

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 at visiting the scheme website.