Section 2 - Roles and responsibilities

• 2.1 Roles and responsibilities
• 2.2 The Cabinet Office Minister responsible for the Civil Service
• 2.3 - Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Accounting Officer
• 2.4 - Civil Service Pensions Board (CSPB)
• 2.5 - The Scheme Manager (Cabinet Office)
• 2.6 - The Scheme Administrator (MyCSP)
• 2.7 - Participating employers (including Employer HRDs, Payroll, HR and Accounting Officers)
• 2.8 - AVC providers
• 2.9 - National Audit Office
• 2.10 - Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA)
• 2.11 - Cabinet Office Workplace Reform
• 2.12 - Joint Committee on Superannuation (JCS)
• 2.13 - Scheme Medical Adviser

A number of people and organisations have responsibility for ensuring the successful delivery of the Civil Service Pensions arrangements. 

Read the Stakeholder Charter

The following information outlines the roles of these people/organisations.

The Minister is responsible for the management and administration of the Civil Service Pensions arrangements.

The Minister delegates this responsibility to the Cabinet Secretary in his role as Accounting Officer for the arrangements.

The Accounting Officer is the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office.

The Accounting Officer has oversight of the Civil Superannuation Vote for the Civil Service Pensions arrangements. The Accounting Officer has to sign a Governance Statement on Internal Control in the Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts confirming the effectiveness of the control framework in place.

The Civil Service Pensions Board (CSPB) is responsible for assisting the Scheme Manager (Cabinet Office) in the effective administration of the Civil Service pension arrangements.

The CSPB was created in 2010, and was the first such Board to be set up for a Public Service pension scheme. The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 put the CSPB on a formal legal footing from 1 April 2015.

The CSPB’s principle function is to hold the Scheme Manager to account for the delivery of Civil Service Pension arrangements. They also help to promote high standards of administration through advising, influencing, challenging and assisting the Scheme Manager. The CSPB meets at least quarterly.

The Scheme Manager acts on behalf of the CSPB, and is responsible for:

• Managing the Contract with the Scheme Administrator (MyCSP), as well as the contracts/service agreements with various other advisers;
• Producing the Cabinet Office ‘Civil Superannuation Resources Accounts’;
• Providing secretariat support to the CSPB and its sub-committees;
• Coordinating risk management of the Civil Service Pension (CSP) arrangements;
• Exercising scheme discretions reserved for the Minister;
• Operating the second stage of the statutory Internal Dispute Resolution procedure;
• Overseeing the audit programme for the CSP arrangements;
• Guidance and oversight for employers;
• Acting as an escalation route for employers in the event of any disputes that they cannot resolve with the Scheme Administrator.

The Scheme Administrator is the organisation responsible for administering the CSP arrangements, Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS), Civil Service Injury Benefit Scheme (CSIBS) and the Civil Service Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme (CSAVCS) under a contract to the Cabinet Office.

The Scheme Administrator is a private sector company. It is a ‘mutual joint venture’, with shares held by a Private Sector Partner and MyCSP staff.

The Scheme Administrator provides services for all employers covered by the CSP arrangements and its main responsibilities include:

• Calculating CSP, CSCS and CSIBS benefits;
• Providing pensioner payroll services. This covers the payment of
  • pensions,
  • pension increases,
  • lump sums,
  • death benefits,
  • compensation benefits,
  • administration services to deferred members;
• Maintaining an accurate member database and member records;
• Exercising certain discretions (including CSP and CSIBS) that have been delegated to it;
• Maintaining an effective risk and control framework;
• Managing and resolving complaints up to and including first stage of the Internal Dispute Resolution procedure;
• Reporting to the CSPB (normally via the Scheme Manager);
• Providing a helpdesk for member queries and providing CSP communications to members;
• Guidance and support for employers;
• Coordinating communication activities relating to members’ benefits.

These include:

• Civil Service departments;
• Executive Agencies;
• Schedule 1 employers including Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs);
• Some private sector employers, with employees transferred under the new Fair Deal arrangements.

There are in excess of 200 employing bodies (Government Departments, Agencies, NDPBs and private sector employers) that “participate” or employ staff that are members of the CSP arrangements. Employers’ main roles are:

• To provide the Scheme Administrator with accurate member data through a monthly interface between their payroll and Compendia (the pensions administration system);
• To pay employer and employee contributions to the Cabinet Office Civil Superannuation Vote;
• Administrative actions when new staff join one of the schemes;
• Reconciliation activities;
• Reporting to the Scheme Manager. In particular, providing Assurance Statements which inform the Accounting Officer’s governance statements in the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts.

From 1 September 2018, members can only contribute to either a partnership pension account or CSAVCs. The stand-alone stakeholder scheme is no longer offered. From this date, members had the option of one single provider (Legal & General) for the defined contribution arrangements.

With the exception of members of the AVC scheme who are with Equitable Life, existing members with one of the previous providers moved to the current provider from 1 September 2018 and, depending on which scheme they were a member of, their accrued benefits could be transferred to the new provider.

Prior to 1 September 2018, members could contribute to a variety of defined contribution or ‘money purchase’ arrangements via a number of insurance companies. The providers were:

• Partnership pension account:
  • Scottish Widows
  • Standard Life
  • TUC/Prudential (closed to new entrants
• CSAVCS:
  • Equitable Life (closed to all further contributions with the exception of existing members who have chosen to continue to contribute)
  • Scottish Widows
  • Standard Life
• Stakeholder account:
• Standard Life

The National Audit Office carries out the external audit of the Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts.

The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) carries out the internal audit.

Cabinet Office’s Reform team is responsible for the development of Civil Service pension policy.

The Scheme Medical Adviser is appointed by CSPB to provide employers, the Scheme Administrator and CSPB with advice about ill-health retirements and CSIBS cases.

The Scheme Medical Adviser is a private sector company under contract to the Cabinet Office; however, the Scheme Administrator carry out management of the contract on a day-to-day basis.