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Governance and Rules

Governance and Rules for the Civil Service pension arrangements

Last updated - 31st March 2011

Scheme governance arrangements

Civil Service pensions are set by statute (Superannuation Act 1972) and managed by Cabinet Office on behalf of the Minister for the Civil Service.

Responsibility for pensions administration is delegated to individual employers who report annually to Cabinet Office.

Governance group

A governance group comprising representatives nominated by Cabinet Office and the Council of Civil Service Unions has been in place since October 2008:

• to provide a mechanism through which the service delivery of the Civil Service pension arrangements is monitored independently, and

• to play a role in ensuring that pension scheme members and their employers have involvement in the process for reviewing PCSPS scheme costs. In particular the group will be involved in the quadrennial valuation of the PCSPS, the results of which will form the basis for any sharing of cost increases between employers and members.

You can read the Governance Group's first annual report (including their terms of reference) at the following link.

Governance Group Annual Report 2008 - 09 [PDF 54KB, 9 pages]
Governance Group Annual Report 2009 - 10 [PDF 67KB, 12 pages]

Scheme changes and consultation

Cabinet Office meets with representatives of the Council of Civil Service Unions via the Joint Committee on Superannuation (JCS). This meets quarterly and is an opportunity to discuss the provisions of the scheme and any proposed changes.

Responsibilities

Scheme managers: Cabinet Office.
Scheme administration: My Civil Service Pension - services delivered by Pension Service Centres (Authorised Pension Administration Centres) with payment services through Capita Hartshead.
Scheme Medical Advisor: Capita Health Solutions.
AVC providers: Scottish Widows, Standard Life, Equitable Life (closed to new members).
partnership providers: Scottish Widows, Standard Life, TUC.
Stakeholder provider: Standard Life.
Scheme Actuary: Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow.
Legal advisers: The Treasury Advisory Division, HM Treasury.

Scheme membership figures (2008-2009)

All Civil Servants are scheme members, plus employees of bodies listed in Schedule 1 to the Superannuation Act 1972 (see below)

Active members classic 61%, classic plus 3%, premium 28%, nuvos 8%	564,000
partnership members	7,400
Deferred (past) members	332,000
Pensioners (retired members)	452,000
Pensioners (dependants)	129,000

Schedule 1 bodies

The Civil Service pension arrangements also apply to a number of publicly-funded bodies which are not part of the Civil Service. These are listed in Schedule 1 to the Superannuation Act 1972 (as amended)
List of Schedule 1 bodies

By-analogy and analogous schemes

Several other pension schemes either use our rules as a basis for their own, or use our rules with modifications. Here is a list of by-analogy and analogous schemes.
Resource accounts

Resource accounts

Resource accounts are published annually.

Scheme valuation

The pension scheme costs are reviewed every four years by our Actuaries. The last valuation was in 2007 - link to valuations.

Contribution rates

The actuaries determine the level of contributions that employers should make to meet the cost of providing the pensions. These are called Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges. The current contribution rates are here.

Members of classic contribute 1.5% of their pensionable earnings, classic plus, premium and nuvos members all contribute 3.5%. partnership members can choose whether they contribute or not to their partnership account.

Scheme Rules

The Civil Service pension scheme rules are set and amended by Statute.

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