EPN 706 - Resource Accounts: 2023-24 - Civil Service Pension Scheme

Date posted: 08/03/2024

Audience:

This notice is for staff involved in the preparation of Remuneration Reports required for the Annual Resource Accounts exercise. It will be of particular interest to:

finance directors and managers; and
pension leads

Important information:

HM Treasury have advised that most Resource Accounts Remuneration reports should be published before Summer recess, which means that the time period for MyCSP to provide information to employers is very short.

The 2015 Remedy has significant implications for this year’s exercise, and we are still working through some of the issues. As a result, we are issuing guidance in two stages this year. The primary purpose of this EPN is to instruct employers to provide a completed Annex 13A and Annex 13B to start the process. A further EPN will follow with more information, including an example Remuneration report.

Given the very tight deadlines we are all working to this year, it is essential that employers only request pension information for people whose remuneration will be disclosed in their accounts.

All employers are required to complete Annex 13A, listing all board members in scope and provide it to MyCSP by 14 March 2024.

All employers are obliged to provide any expected changes on the annex to pay etc. which are not on the January interface, but which relate to the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

The timetable for processing calculations will be determined by information provided by HM Treasury and the NAO about the likely order in which employers will publish their accounts.

If employers have not provided their interface data as at January 2024, these calculations will potentially not be able to be completed by the deadline.

Actions:

In order to obtain pension information on staff covered by the Remuneration Report, you will need to complete Annex 13A of the EPG and send it to the Scheme Administrator (MyCSP).
To obtain pension information on Ministers covered by the Remuneration Report, you will need to complete Annex 13B of the EPG and send it to BUCK (the administrator of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund).

Timing:

Immediate - you must carry out the actions above as soon as possible

Detail

Resource accounts of organisations covered by the Civil Service pension arrangements must include a Remuneration Report that contains information about
the salary and pension packages of Ministers and the senior management team.

Requesting pension information from the Scheme Administrator
You are responsible for identifying the individuals whose details should be included in your Remuneration Report, and for requesting pension information from the Scheme Administrator.
To request pension information from the Scheme Administrator, you will need to complete . You will need to contact your payroll provider in order to obtain some of the information that you need to give to the Scheme Administrator. Please note: you do not need to include figures from last year’s exercise.
When you have completed Annex 13A, please return it to the Scheme Administrator as soon as possible. Please email your completed Annex 13A to:
resourceaccounts2024@mycsp.co.uk
You must complete fully and accurately. Please note: for Column J of the Annex; If you have advised that there will be changes in earnings for the February/March interface, you must update your interface with this information accordingly.
To request Ill Health retirement details from your Administrator, you will need to email:resourceaccounts2024@mycsp.co.uk.
Important: the Scheme Administrator may not be able to provide you with pension information unless:

a) you have completed Annex 13A fully and accurately no later than 14 March 2024;
b) they have received and processed the interface from your January payroll; and
c) you have provided details of any changes in the pay details for February or March.
If all criteria have been met, the Scheme Administrator will endeavour to provide you with the pension information in accordance with the completion date, once this has been agreed with Cabinet Office.
Any delays in not meeting the above criteria will need to be reviewed on an individual basis to agree a revised completion date. Prioritisation will be given to employers who have met the relevant criteria.
To reduce the risk of transcribing errors, the Scheme Administrator will send you the results (both inputs and outputs) from the calculator they use to produce the information. This includes all the pension figures you need for the Remuneration Report.

Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund Remuneration Report (Annex 13B)
Annex 13B contains requirements for 2024 – Important please read.
Please note that the process for 2024 has been reviewed and agreed with the PCPF Secretariat at the House of Commons.
Receipt of Annexes ahead of commencement of work – We will wait to receive all 13B Annexes from all Departments before we start reviewing the scope and providing the pricing. All work for this project needs to be scoped at once, as there might be ministers appearing on multiple Annexes.
Unpaid Ministers - please flag entries to Buck where you have recorded a minister on an annex who is either being paid by another department or is not receiving a ministerial salary.
Cost approval – We require each department to confirm their acceptance of the cost and timescales quoted via email, along with a PO number for the Buck invoice (if required). At this stage we will commence the work to produce the figures.
Invoices – An invoice will be issued by Buck for urgent settlement by government departments.
Settlement of invoices –The figures will only be provided to government department once the invoices have been processed and funds received into the Buck bank account.
Please see process map.

Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund key dates for 2024
To set clear expectations on all sides and improve the chances of a seamless project, our process is structured around the following important dates:

a) 5 March 2024 – Departments should send Annex 13B to the National Projects Team before this date and please make clear if there is a specific reporting date required (earliest date available is 30th April).
b) 20 March 2024 – Deadline for Buck NPT to send to the Departments the costs and timescales.
c) 29 March 2024 – Departments to confirm Buck NPT can proceed with work, costs and timeframes agreed and PO number supplied. An invoice will be raised within 10 working days of receipt of this confirmation.
d) 15 April 2024 – Departments to provide final Annex 13B forms to account for any late movements in period.
Please note that any additional movements will be charged and a separate PO will need to be raised.
Please note that these dates are provisional and are dependent on NPT receiving all the required Annex forms and also having received the updated calculation forms from GAD.
Please forward this email to any other individuals who will be dealing with the Disclosure of Pension Information for your relevant department during 2024.
Should you have any questions, please email Nationalprojects@buck.com.

Further support available to you
There is a “Hot Topics” Employer session being delivered by MyCSP’s training team on 5th & 7th March 2024, covering the Resource Accounts process and what’s involved from a Pension Scheme Administrator perspective, as well as how you are able to support. To book on the session, please sign up via the Hot Topics page on the Civil Service Pensions website.
Please note that there will be a further EPN providing more detail into the calculations and communications to be issued to members.

Contacts

If you have a question about the distribution of EPNs, or would like to receive them in a different format, please contact EPN@MyCSP.co.uk.

You can find electronic copies of the Employer Pension Guide, all current EPNs and forms in the Employer section of the Civil Service Pensions website.

This notice is for employers and should not be issued to scheme members.

EPN 706 - Resource Accounts: 2023/24 disclosure of salary, pension and compensation information