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For scheme specific news please visit the Latest Scheme News page on the relevant scheme area of the website
Budget Statement regarding high earners |
March 2010 |
From 6 April 2010 there are tax changes being implemented which will affect high earners. See the links below for more information. |
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Stakeholder Survey |
March 2010 |
Towards the end of last year we conducted our annual customer satisfaction survey. Your responses are vital to us as they help identify ways of improving our service. Consequently, over the coming year we will be investigating the effectiveness of our Voice Activated Telephone System as well as refreshing the appearance of our website. We will also be looking at how we can reduce the time taken to respond to the letters we receive. Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond. |
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Employer Newsletter |
February 2010 |
The Stakeholder Liaison Team of the SPPA has produced Employer specific Newsletters. The first editions are available below. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 |
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Stakeholder Survey (return to top)
Stakeholder Survey |
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2009 |
File: pdf 497kb | |
2008 |
File: pdf 183kb | |
2007 |
File: Word 40.0kb | |
2006 |
File: pdf 62.5kb | |
Misc (return to top)
Miscellaneous Links |
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Independent Pensions Commission: First Report (01/09/2005) |
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Preston Cases (Reviewed 1/9/2005) |
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Dr Judith Brown Report - Review of Ill Health Retirement |
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Ageism - Discrimination of the grounds of age |
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Gender Recognition Act 2004 |
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Report by Policy Pensions Institute [PPI] (01/09/08) |
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The Pensions Commission (02/12/05) |
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