Has your Academy updated its LGPS Employer Discretions Policy?

The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 require scheme employers, including academy trusts, to prepare and publish a written policy setting out how the employer will exercise certain discretions under the Regulations.  For example, some of these discretions deal with:

• voluntary funding of additional benefits;
• flexible retirement;
• award of additional pension benefits (at cost to the employer); and
• waiving all or part of any actuarial reduction.

There are a number of discretions exercisable by employers where a written policy does not have to be published.

Existing policies will need to be updated to comply with the new regulations.  As the regulations governing the LGPS have recently changed, scheme employers are meant to have submitted an update policy to their relevant administering authority by 30 June 2014.

Any subsequent changes to policies must be published within one month of the change and a copy sent to the relevant administering authority within that time.

If employers do not provide a copy of their policies to their administering authority, the actuary will not be able to reflect this in future valuations.  This could lead to the assumption of higher liabilities for the employer.

If your academy has not already done so, we would be happy to advise on what it needs to do to update and implement its new policy.

For more information please contact Sarah Forster on 0191 211 7910.