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27 AUG 2021

The content on this page and any documents associated to it should now be considered out of date.

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Understanding changes to your pension

We understand that many of you who will be joining the Probation Service from a CRC, Parent or Supply Chain organisation want to know how your pension will be impacted when you transition in June.

What happens to your pension after transfer will depend on whether you are a current eligible member of the Local Government Pension Scheme or not.

Most people will become or remain a member of the Local Government pension scheme, however some people may become members of the Civil Service Pension scheme instead.

If you were not enrolled in a pension scheme with your previous employer, legally we need to enrol you into a pension scheme (you can choose to opt out if you wish). If your role is 50% probation based work, then you will be enrolled into the LGPS.  Colleagues in corporate functions type roles (e.g. HR, Finance, L&D etc) and not a member of the LGPS before the transfer date, will be enrolled into the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS).

Information on both of these schemes can be found on this page.

Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)

Are you a member of the LGPS?

Please click on the + below to understand the changes depending on whether you are a LGPS member or not.

If you are currently an eligible member of the LGPS

  • If you are a current eligible member of the LGPS (whether making contributions into the pension or not), on transferring across to the NPS you will remain as a member of the pension scheme under the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF).
  • As a new employee of the NPS from 26 June 2021, GMPF will set up a new pension pot within the scheme and the benefits already accrued up to 25 June will be preserved. You will be contacted by GMPF and given the option to either build up a second pension in the scheme or roll your pensions together.  You will be given 12 months to consider your options and make a decision.
  • If you have opted out of making contributions into the pension and wish to do so on taking up post in NPS, you will be given the option to do so within the first few months of joining.

Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) is the pension administrator for the LGPS scheme for those employed in the NPS.

If you are not currently an eligible member of the LGPS:

  • If you are not currently a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) via the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) you will be enrolled into this scheme on joining the NPS.
  • The pension is a career average scheme (CARE) and the amount of pension benefit is calculated on an annual basis against the amount of pensionable pay received by the individual in each scheme year (1 April to 31 March).
  • The amount of pensionable pay is then multiplied by 2.04% to calculate the pension the individual earns in that scheme year. The amount of pension earned each year is also increased by the cost living at the end of the scheme year.
  • GMPF will provide you with an estimate of the benefits (called an Annual Benefit Statement) you would be due on taking retirement at Normal Pension Age. This is normally sent out directly to the member’s home address in July/August each year.

Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) is the pension administrator for the LGPS scheme for those employed in the NPS.

LGPS Pension Contributions

The Probation Service pay employer contributions of 29.6%, of your pensionable pay, into the pension on your behalf; and the contributions you make will depend on your annual pensionable rate of pay, please see table below.

Band Annual Pensionable Pay Your contribution Rate
1 Up to £14,600 5.5%
2 £14,601 to £22,900 5.8%
3 £22,901 to £37,200 6.5%
4 £37,201 to £47,100 6.8%
5 £47,101 to £65,900 8.5%
6 £65,901 to £93,400 9.9%
7 £93,401 to £110,000 10.5%
8 £110,001 to £165,000 11.4%
9 £165,001 or more 12.5%

Please click on the + below to read some examples of a career average pension calculation.

An example of a career average pension calculation

Mary joined the LGPS on 1 April 2016 on a pensionable pay of £19,000 per annum.  During this first year in the scheme she earned £387.60 of pension (£19,000 x 2.04%).

Her pensionable pay rises to £19,760 from 1 April the following year, making her pension earnings £403.10 in year two.

The pension earned in year one would be increased by the cost of living (2.5%) to £397.39.  Adding this to amount of pension earned in year two, the amount earned so far would be £800.39 (accumulated amount of annual pension benefit).  The pension earned each year would be added to the accumulated figure (inflation linked), increasing the amount of annual pension benefit payable on retiring.  If we assume Mary is at the top of the pay range and is paying into the LGPS for ten years before retiring, her annual pension would be around £4,496.71.

Year in service Accumulated Total Cost of Living Increase Earned in Pension Year
Year 1 £387.60 £387.60
Year 2 £387.60 £9.69 £403.10 £800.39
Year 3 £800.39 £20.01 £403.10 £1,223.50
Year 4 £1,223.50 £30.58 £403.10 £1,657.18
Year 5 £1,657.18 £41.43 £403.10 £2,101.71
Year 6 £2,101.71 £52.54 £403.10 £2,557.35
Year 7  £2,557.35  £63.93  £403.10  £3,024.38
Year 8  £3,024.38  £75.61  £403.10  £3,503.09
Year 9  £3,503.09  £87.58  £403.10  £3,993.77
Year 10  £3,993.77  £99.84  £403.10  £4,496.71

Accessing your personal LGPS record online

You can access your personal LGPS record on-line through the My Pension portal. My Pension enables you to:

  • Contact GMPF directly with a query
  • View and change your nominated beneficiaries (e.g. death nomination)
  • View a simplified version of your pension records
  • Tell GMPF of a change in address, telephone number or e-mail address

Registering and activating your Pension account is simple. To register, or to find out more information, go to: https://www.gmpf.org.uk/members/My-Pension-support?search=my%20pension.

For those eligible members who already have an active portal account, there should be no change to your log-in.

Accessing the portal if you’re not currently a member of the LGPS

For those who are not currently eligible members of the LGPS and will be enrolled into the scheme on the date of transfer, until the first payroll information is sent to GMPF at the end of July you may not be able to register onto the portal, due to the requirement for GMPF to email an activation code to the new member. Once GMPF contact you in writing confirming membership of the scheme, you will be able to register onto the portal.

Opting out of the LGPS Pension scheme

If you have transferred to the Probation Service with your LGPS pension or have been automatically enrolled into the scheme, you have the right to opt out. You can do this by completing an ‘Opting out form’ on the GMPF (LGPS) website here and sending your completed form to Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), Change and Notification Team, Newport, Gwent, NPS20 9BB.

Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC’S) – Current Eligible Members of the LGPS

The current provider for AVC’s within the LGPS through GMPF is Prudential.  One of the former AVC providers was Scottish Widows and most people who were paying into this AVC have now moved into Prudential. However, any eligible member of the LGPS through GMPF still paying into a Scottish Widow AVC will not be able to continue in this scheme on transferring into the NPS and will need to join Prudential.

Click on the + icons to understand more information about additional voluntary pension contributions.

AVC’s – Prudential

GMPF has recently confirmed that, after discussions with Prudential those who are current eligible members of the LGPS through GMPF who make additional payments into an AVC, will have to contact Prudential at or soon after the date of transfer into the NPS to confirm the additional pension should continue.

Prudential has informed GMPF that, under their processes the current payments made into an AVC will cease from 25th June 2021, due to the end of employment with the current employer, and individuals will need to contact Prudential to restart the AVC.  Once the individual employee has done this, Prudential will contact GMPF to confirm the details of the additional pension payments to be deducted.

AVC’s – Scottish Widows

There are a small number of CRC employees who are current LGPS members through GMPF and pay into an AVC provided by Scottish Widows.  Payments to Scottish Widows will cease from 25 June, but these cannot be restarted on transferring into the NPS.  If those affected wish to continue to pay into an AVC they will need to contact Prudential.

GMPF will be contacting those who have an AVC with Scottish Widows in writing at the date of transfer confirming the above and providing details of the Prudential scheme.

Additional Pension Contributions/Added Years

For current eligible members of the LGPS through GMPF who are buying additional pension by way of Added Years or Additional Pension Contributions, on transfer into the NPS to continue these payments under the current agreement, the individual would need to link the pension already accrued with the new pension pot started.

If the member decides not to link the pensions together and wishes to continue to buy additional pension, they will need to enter into a new agreement with GMPF to make the additional payments.  GMPF will confirm the details to NPS, to set up deductions through payroll.

For those who are buying additional pension, these details should be included in the letter sent by GMPF offering the option to aggregate the pension posts or build a second pot and preserve the previous pension that has already accrued.

50/50 Section

Current eligible LGS members through GMPF who have an agreement in place under the 50/50 section, will need to link their pensions together to continue with the current agreement.  If you decide not to link the pensions together, you will need to enter into a new 50/50 section agreement with GMPF.

Civil Service Pension scheme (Alpha)

A small number of staff are current members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (Alpha) you will remain in this scheme on joining the NPS with no break in service.

The Civil Service Pension is administered by MyCSP, and this will continue on transferring into the NPS. To access the MyCSP Pension Portal you will need to follow the instructions below and have a membership number.

A small number of transferring staff may become members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (Alpha)

For those employees in-scope to transfer into the NPS who under exceptional circumstances are not able to become a member of the LGPS, they may be enrolled into the Civil Service Pension scheme, which is called the Alpha scheme.

The Alpha pension is a career average scheme similar to the LGPS and the amount of pension benefit is calculated on an annual basis against the amount of pensionable pay received by the individual in each scheme year (1 April to 31 March). The amount of pensionable pay is then multiplied by 2.3% to calculate the pension the individual earns in that scheme year. The amount of pension earned each is also increased by the cost living at the end of the scheme year. The accrual of pension under Alpha is similar to the example shown above under the LGPS.

Contributions in to the Civil Service Pension Scheme

Click on the + below to learn about the contribution rates for the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Employee Contributions
Banding Annual Pensionable Pay Contribution Rate
1 Up to £23,100 4.6%
2 £23,101 to £56,000 5.45%
3 £56,001 to £150,000 7.35%
4 £150,001 upwards 8.05%

Employer contributions

Banding Annual Pensionable Pay Contribution Rate
1 Up to £23,100 26.6%
2 £23,101 to £56,000 27.1%
3 £56,001 to £150,000 27.9%
4 £150,001 upwards 30.3%

Accessing your Civil Service Pension information

The Civil Service Pension Scheme is administered by MyCSP, and this link takes you to their website: https://www.mycsp.co.uk/

Once you have a membership number, you will be able to log onto the Pensions Portal.  You will be asked for a registration code, which is CSPSACT1 and then enter your membership number.

Next, you’ll be asked two security questions: your national insurance number and date of birth. Once you’ve provided this information, you’ll then just need to create a username and password.

  1. Your username should be between 5 and 32 characters long, is not case sensitive and should not include spaces or special characters.
  2. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least one capital letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one of these special characters: #&@%$.. For example: Ex@mp01e. Now you’re good to go.

The link below takes you to the Pension Portal Registration page:  https://members.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

The rules and details of the scheme can be found here: https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/

Opting out of the Civil Service Pension scheme

If you have transferred to the Probation Service with your Civil Service pension or have been automatically enrolled into the scheme, you have the right to opt out. You can do this by completing the ‘Opt out form’ on the Civil Service Pension website here and sending your completed form to Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), Change and Notification Team, Newport, Gwent, NPS20 9BB.

Help and support with your pension

For queries relating to the LGPS pension, you should visit the GMPF website where there are contact details for general pension queries.

For queries relating to the CSPS you should visit the MyCSP website where there are contact details for general pension queries.