Pension Scheme

This factsheet summarises the McCloud judgment and changes the Government is making to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales. The changes may affect you if:

• you were paying into the LGPS or another public service pension scheme before 1 April 2012
• you were also paying into the LGPS between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2022
• you have been a member of a public service pension scheme without a continuous break of more than 5 years.

You do not need to do anything. If you qualify for underpin protection, your pension fund will work out if an addition is due to be paid to you when you take your pension. They will do this as soon as they can after 1 October 2023.

Please view the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities fact sheet for more information.

The government has introduced a law designed to help people save more for their retirement.  It requires all employers to enrol workers into a work place pension scheme if they;

• Are not already in one in respect of an employment, i.e. if you have previously opted out of our pension schemes;
• Earn over £10,000 a year (or pro-rata per pay period) in that employment;
• Are aged 22 or over; and
• Are under State Pension Age.

The workplace pension scheme we provide is the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and both are qualifying pension schemes.

Joining the LGPS or TPS is one of the best ways to plan for your retirement, as it has an excellent range of benefits.

Please go to the Dyfed Pension Fund or Teachers’ Pension website for further information.

In order to buy back lost pension for a period of unpaid leave (unpaid hours or days) you will need complete an online form via the Local Government Pension Scheme website.

Before accessing the website you will need to know the value of your lost pensionable pay for your period of authorised unpaid leave. You will be able to view this on your payslip when the deduction is taken.  

Please note that you will need to complete all of the following details on the online calculator:

• Gender - It is important this is completed correctly as the cost factors are gender specific
• Date of birth - You must be between 16 and 74 to be in the LGPS. Enter a date in the format dd mm yyyy
• Lost pensionable pay - Please enter the total pensionable pay ‘lost’ during your absence. This will be shown on your payslip and keep a copy for your confirmation.
• Reason for absence - Please select from the valid reasons for absence shown. The reason must be confirmed. For industrial action please click on “trade dispute” from the drop down menu or for authorised unpaid leave click on ‘authorised unpaid leave’. If your reason for absence is not shown you cannot use this option but should use the extra pension option instead.
• Section during absence - Click on ‘main section’ from drop down menu (unless you have made an election to contribute under the 50/50 Section of the Scheme)
• Last day of absence – Please enter the date of the last day of the period of absence. This must be after 31^st March 2014.
• 30 day override box - Only tick this box if you are making an election to buy lost pension for authorised unpaid leave or unpaid additional child related leave more than 30 days after you have returned to work and your employer has given written agreement to extend the period that they are willing to contribute towards the cost (for elections made within 30 days of returning to work, the employer must contribute 2/3rds of the cost of buying back the lost pension for periods of absence up to 36 months.
• Method of payment – Please select the method of payment you wish to use either regular or lump sum deduction from payroll or by lump sum direct to your pension provider on receipt of an invoice. Please check with Dyfed Pension Fund for the minimum amount for regular deductions to avoid your application being rejected. If you select lump sum deduction and the amount cannot not be reasonably deducted in your next pay period your application may be turned down.
• Years - If you have selected regular deductions in method of payment please enter the number of years you wish to make payments over.
• Pay frequency - If you have selected regular deductions in method of payment please enter the frequency of your pay which will also be the frequency of your payments. If you wish to recalculate using lump sum deduction please reset this field to blank by selecting ‘_’.
• Full name - Please enter your full name
• National Insurance Number - Please enter a valid national insurance number in the format aa123456aa
• Employer - Please enter the name of your employer (Either Carmarthenshire County Council or if you are employed locally by a the name of the school)
• Payroll Number – Use this and your job title to uniquely identify this post from any others you have.
• Job Title – If you wish to purchase lost pension against multiple posts you will need to complete an application for each post
• Email - Enter your email address in a valid format (optional).

Finally click on ‘Get results’ to calculate the cost of purchasing lost pension. Once you have completed the above on the online form and if you wish to proceed to purchase the lost pension. You will need to download the form by ticking the ‘Application’ box which confirms that the information entered is correct and that you have read and understood the terms and conditions for your additional pension applications.

Click on ‘Print application’ button on the bottom right hand side of the page.  This will transfer the details that you have entered into a pdf document. Please sign the declaration on this form and email or post it directly to:

E-mail: crpayroll@carmarthenshire.gov.uk
Payroll Section, Corporate Services Department, Building 14, St David’s Park, Job’s Well Road, Carmarthen, SA31 3HB.

Please read our Discretionaty Policy in respect of our Employer Discretions under the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).  These discretions may be reviewed, due to changes to the LGPS regulations or by us and do not give any contractual rights.

You can also view the Dyfed Pension Fund Administering Authority discretions on their website. 

If you wish to opt out of LGPS membership an Opt Out Form is available from Dyfed Pension Fund website. Alternatively contact Dyfed Pension Fund, County Hall, Carmarthen SA31 1JP.

If you wish to opt out of the TPS membership an Opt Out form is available from the TPS website.

If you are a teacher you will automatically become a member of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). You will be advised on the appropriate contribution rate on your employment contract and you contact the HR Support Team if you have any queries.

The good news is that we will also be contributing towards your pension.

Whether you’re full-time or part-time teacher, you’ll pay a percentage of your gross salary into your pension each month.

You can view the current TPS pension contribution rates for 2022/23 on the TPS website.

The contribution rates are reviewed regularly and changed from time-to-time and as a result there may be an automatic increase or decrease in your pension banding.  Your pension banding may also increase as a result of a pay increase including any incremental pay rises.    

Further information on the benefits of joining the TPS can also be found on the TPS website.

The Government has introduced a cap on the amount of money a public sector employer can pay when an employee leaves their employment. It is called the public sector exit cap, or £95k cap. It applies to employees leaving public sector employments from 4 November 2020.

In addition, the Government has recently consulted on a number of changes including:

• limiting the amount of discretionary compensation, or severance pay, your employer can pay you, and
• deducting any statutory redundancy pay from the amount your employer can pay to the pension fund on your behalf. If you are aged 55 or over and you are made redundant, or leave due to business efficiency, your employer normally pays towards the cost of you receiving your pension early.

We do not know if and when the Government will go ahead with these changes – they are only proposals at the moment.

If you are a member of the LGPS and want more information please view the member FAQs here.

• LGPS Pension Banding Table 2023/24
• Discretionary Policy