sppa.gov.uk Pensioner Payroll & Auto Enrolment : Scottish Public Pensions Agency
Organization : Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA)
Type of Facility : Pensioner Payroll & Auto Enrolment
Country: Scotland
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Website :
http://www.sppa.gov.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=614:ppayment&catid=235
http://www.sppa.gov.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=738:auto-enrolment&catid=378&Itemid=1469
Pensioner Payroll & Auto Enrolment :
Pensioner Payroll:
The SPPA Payroll team currently administer 138,000 members and are responsible for all administrative tasks carried out in respect of both retired Scottish Teachers and NHS members.
Related : Scottish Public Agency Local Government Pension Scheme United Kingdom : www.statusin.org/26009.html
We are responsible for the payment of pensions and lump sums totalling approximately £1.8 billion per annum.
During the financial year we carry out a number of special exercises, the largest of which are the annual Pensions Increase exercise and the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), which is carried out in conjunction with Audit Scotland.
The team are on-hand to help with any enquiries and are happy to receive calls between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm Monday to Thursday and between 9:00 am and 4:30 pm on Fridays.
Payroll Department
Scottish Public Pensions Agency
7 Tweedside Park
Tweedbank
Galashiels
TD1 3TE
Telephone: 01896 893049
Email SPPA Payroll
Note: If you have not already retired please direct your query to the relevant Teachers or NHS contact.
Auto Enrolment:
As people are living longer and likely to enjoy a longer retirement, the UK government introduced Workplace Pension reforms. The recommendations of the Independent Review on Workplace Pension reforms formed part of the Pensions Bill 2011. One of the key changes is Automatic Enrolment.
Automatic Enrolment (AE) is being introduced gradually from 1st October 2012. The staging date for each employer will depend on the number of workers in their PAYE scheme. Larger employers will conduct their AE duties first, with medium and smaller employers to follow.
The Pensions regulator is helping employers prepare for automatic enrolment with a wide range of tools and guidance. Whatever your involvement in AE, here’s a reminder of the free facilities they have to offer:
** find out employer staging dates, the deadline for being compliant with the new duties.
** use the timeline planner to help prepare for automatic enrolment.
** fulfil employer registration duties with the online registration process.
Helping advisers help employers
Whether you’re an employee benefit consultant, independent financial adviser, payroll administrator or accountant, you’ll be in a position to provide invaluable help to employers with AE.
The Pensions Regulator has designed a series of tools and resources specifically to help you help your clients.
View the resources for advisers
Automatic Enrolment is the core employer duty of work based pensions reform. It means that employers must automatically place all eligible employees into a pension scheme and advise them that they have done so. For NHS employees, the qualifying scheme is the National Health Service Superannuation Scheme (Scotland) (NHSSS(S)) and for employees in the teaching profession, the qualifying scheme is the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme (STSS).
All employees who are eligible under scheme regulations should be automatically included in the relevant section of the NHSSS(S), or STSS from
the first day of employment. Employees must be enrolled and then make a decision about whether they wish to opt out.
Employers must:
** Automatically enrol all eligible jobholders into the scheme without the jobholder taking any action.
** Provide new members with information about the scheme they have been enrolled into and about automatic re-enrolment.
** Advise members who do not wish to be in the scheme, to obtain the opt out form from our website.
** Re-enrol jobholders, who have previously opted out on the third anniversary of the employers staging date (jobholders who have opted out within 12 months of the re-enrolment date are exempt until the next automatic re-enrolment date).
** Provide a refund of contributions to jobholder who opt out during the opt out period.
** Provide and contribute to an alternative qualifying pension scheme if the jobholder is not eligible to join the NHSSS(S) or STSS.
** Monitor opt outs and re-enrol jobholders if they become eligible under Auto Enrolment rules.
** Keep accurate records.
** Process opt in requests for eligible jobholders.
There are some occasions where an individual is not eligible to join the NHSSS(S) or STSS, this is because they may have:
** Been an active member for the maximum 45 years.
** Retired early (age 55) with special class status (maximum membership is 40 years at age 55 or 45 years overall) (NHS only).
** Retired from the 1995 section and not eligible to rejoin the scheme (NHS only).
** A full time job with an NHS or STSS employer and a second job with the same or another NHS or STSS employer. This is because they will have reached the full time equivalent pensionable earnings that can be paid into the scheme and cannot be auto enrolled into the NHS or Teachers’ scheme for their second job.
Where an employee is not eligible to join the NHSSS(S) or STSS but is eligible to join an alternative qualifying scheme, they must be enrolled in such a scheme. Employers will be able to choose an alternative pension provider of their choice, such as the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). Full details of NEST can be found on the NEST website.