teachers’

PENSIONS SCHEME

News from the TP Team - School Finance Forum November 2010

Unless where stated, the items below are for action by schools not using Croydon’s HR and Payroll services and for information only for SLA schools as the TP Team will take action for you.

FOR EVERYONE - LGPS “Pensions” mailbox

There is some confusion over the use of the “Pensions” mailbox for the Local Government Pension Scheme, which is the scheme for non-teaching staff. The LGPS Team have been receiving emails from teachers asking for a password to access their pension records. These have been forwarded to the TP Team who re-direct them to the Teachers’ Pension website at from where their pension records are available. Please ensure your staff are aware of the different schemes and who they should approach for access to their pension records.

FOR EVERYONE - LGPS Pension Forms

Similar to the LGPS mailbox, teachers have been completing the LGPS Pension forms for new starters and the Death Grant Nomination. Apart from being incorrect, there is no need for a pension new starter form as all teachers have automatic entry to the scheme unless or until they opt out. We notify TP of new starter teachers in SLA schools and submit TR6 information to TP from schools using 3rd party providers.

The LGPS Death Grant Nomination is also invalid. Where this has occurredwe have returned these forms to the teacher with a TP “Nomination for Death Grant” Form to complete and send direct to TP.

At this point it is worth reminding you and your staff to check that your Death Grant Nominations are in place and up-to-date, and to contact the appropriate pension scheme administrator if needed.

Again, please ensure your staff are aware of the different schemes and which forms they should use.

FOR EVERYONE - TP Forms

A reminder that ALL TP forms must come to the TP Team for authorising before going onto TP. We have had a couple of cases where an Opt Out and MEMELECT form have gone direct to TP without the LA’s knowledge and has been accepted. (The forms came from both an SLA and non-SLA school). As soon as we were notified we investigated the cases with TP, who accepted they were at fault in not returning the forms to the LA, but commented that as the forms been stamped by the school and a payroll provider they assumed the schools were not under LA control.

For the Opt Out, contributions were refunded, but as the election had been made more than 3 months after the date of appointment, TP refunded the EE’s contributions but not the ER’s – so the school has lost money.

With regard to the MEMELECT form,pension contributions had not been taken from salary for a period of time and TP have invoiced us for the arrears. However, even though this is their acknowledged error, TP have included an element of compound interest payable by the LA. As this cost would be passed onto the school with the ER’s contributions we have challenged this additional charge with the LGE, TP and the DfE on the principal that the LA is not at fault and TP should pay the compound interest. This is still in discussion.

From the above you can see how important it is to ensure forms are completed correctly and timely and sent to the LA and NOT to TP direct. We want to avoid passing on inappropriate or large charges to schools but cannot do so if we are not involved from the outset.

Completion of Non-SLA schools TP Forms

This item is only for schools completing their own, or using 3rd party providers to complete, TP forms.

When completing salary details on TR8s and Part B of TP forms, the service lines must start from either the last annual return date or the date of appointment if later and not span “31 March”. So for current forms the “start date” will be “1/4/10” or “1/9/10” and the end dates will be “31/810” and “31/3/11”. Examples of other corrections are:

  • The salary code for main scale teachers is “W00” and not “M1”
  • The salary code for Threshold teachers is “P00” and not “UPR” or “UP1”
  • Leadership salary codes are not “L13” but either “H00”, V00” or “L00”
  • Part time gross earnings are relevant to the period on each service line, including all allowances, and not the %age fte of the annual salary
  • For the moment, the £33 GTC payment must be included in the April-August service line
  • Where a TLR or other allowance is paid, it must be included in the annual salary figure AND entered separately under “Other Allowances”
  • The same applies to an SEN allowance but it appears in the “SP” or “Social Priority” column as either “3” for Level 1 or “4” for Level 2.
  • Part time teachers have “7” for regular work or “8” for supply work entered in the “SP” or “Special Classes” column
  • Enter your correctestablishment number as “306/xxxx” and say whether the date of birth has been verified (by sight of documentation or the CRB check)

Please do not complete the “Certification” box in Part B as this “must be signed and stamped by a responsible officer of the Local Authority”. If completed by the school or payroll provider TP may assume the school is not under LA control (see earlier item). We have to cross through these entries, complete with the TP Team details and the LA stamp.

Change of personal details

Teachers in SLA schools can notify HR of changes to address and personal details which are updated on Trent. The TP Team notifies TP separately of changes to personal details through a monthly report of changes to payroll.

Teachers in non-SLA schools should notify their school of any changes, which must be sent onto their HR/payroll provider AND the TP team to notify TP.

In both cases, a change of address must be notified to TP direct to ensure the pension record is updated for issue of pension statements, pension estimates and any other personal information sent out to the member by TP.

Changes to their “Nomination for Death Grant” go direct to TP.

Re-employment of retired teachers - update

Where a teacher has returned to teaching after retirement, regardless of the date, and TP has not been informed they will write to the teacher direct using the information provided on the annual return. In the absence of a Certificate of Re-Employment TP will invoice the teacher for overpaid pension benefits as they are regarded as being in continuous employment and not entitled to a pension.

We are getting increasing requests from teachers who have been re-employed forseveral years to complete retrospective Certificate of Re-Employment forms for each financial year of employment to stop these claims. Where the claim dates back to the 1990’s we have to rely on archived payroll information, past annual returns and ledgers, but we cannot guarantee we can always meet the member’s request.

It is very important therefore to make sure any re-employed teacher at your school has completed this form - even if it goes back several years - regardless of fte and contract. From 1/1/07 they had automatic membership of the pension scheme as well unless they opted out, so you may need to check their pension status.

TR6, TR8, Opt Outs and Elections to Join the Scheme

Half term can present a changeover of staff. For non-SLA schools, please remember to complete and send into the TP Team your TR8 forms for any teachers who may have left and your TR6 forms for new appointments. These notifications must be submitted for every changeover of staff throughout the school year and particularly at the end/start of term. Vicki Langston has sent out STU templates to non-SLA schools to complete and return which does away with paper forms and enables automatic data transfer to TP.

Finally, a general reminder to all to send us any opt outs, elections to join the scheme (from teachers who have previously opted out) and retirement forms as soon as they are completed by your teachers.

Questions?

We are happy to advise further if necessary, but it is important that 3rd party providers are fully aware of the statutory requirements for pension deductions and recording service under the new Consolidated TP Regulations 2010. Data should be held and recorded in a format that meets the requirements for the annual return.

If you or your staff have any questions or queries relating to this News Bulletin or teachers pensions generally please use our TP Query Sheet (available from the “Pensions” page of the HR website at: or email us direct at:.

Finally, it would be appreciated if the generic mailbox could be used for TP queries rather than our personal mailboxes as this is a shared mailbox we can both access. Personal mailboxes are specific to the user and when we are not available your email may not be actioned.

Croydon Teachers Pensions Team

November 2010

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