Annual Changes to Pension

January 2010

Pensions are index-linked in line with annual changes in the Retail Price Index (RPI) each September.  This determines if a pension is to be increased from the following April and if so by how much.

In September 2009 the RPI was recorded at -1.4%.  HM Treasury have now confirmed that there will be no increase or reduction applied to Public Service pensions from 6 April 2010 as a consequence.  This means that your SPPA pension will remain in payment at its current rate until further notice.

There is no further information available at this time on decisions to be made on the uprating of your pension in future years.

Withdrawal of TAPS Service

December 2009

Halifax Bank of Scotland have announced that they are withdrawing their Transcontinental Automated Payment Service (TAPS), which allows pension payments to be made directly to overseas bank accounts.  This change will take effect from 31 December 2009.

Our new TAPS provider will be Citibank. Arrangements have already been made to automatically transfer over the responsibility for the payment of pensions to overseas bank accounts, using Citibank’s Worldlink Payment Services from mid December 2009. You therefore do not need to contact us or take any further action regarding this matter.

NHS Axise GO Live

September 2009

During 2006 the Agency undertook a rigorous procurement and evaluation process to ensure they selected the correct supplier to provide their new PAS.  Heywood Ltd was the successful company and in March 2007 it was agreed that they would supply SPPA with their PAS, which is known as Axise, for a period of 8 years.

Following Project Board meetings held on 3 and 10 September 2009, administration of the NHS Scheme was migrated onto Heywood’s Axise system from 24 September 2009.

Budget Announcement

May 2009

The UK Budget 2009 introduced changes to the tax relief available to high earners, including a special annual allowance of £20,000.  This is an important change which may impact on decisions you take about your pension saving in tax years 2009-10 and 2010-11.  Full details of the change can be found on the HMRC website:  www.hmrc.gov.uk  Further information is also available in the attached document.  Budget 2009 Tax Changes

Stakeholder Survey

2008

File: pdf 183kb

2007

File: Word 40.0kb

2006

File: pdf 62.5kb

Miscellaneous Links                                            

Independent Pensions Commission: First Report  (01/09/2005)

Preston Cases  (Reviewed 1/9/2005)

Dr Judith Brown Report - Review of Ill Health Retirement

Ageism - Discrimination of the grounds of age

Gender Recognition Act 2004 

Report by Policy Pensions Institute [PPI] (01/09/08)

The Pensions Commission (02/12/05)