Audience: All Managers and staff who receive the Employers’ Pension Guide (EPG), Employer Pension Notices (EPNs) and Pensions News (PN).
Action: Note that from immediate effect we will cease sending paper copies of the EPG, EPNs and PNs.
Complete the Distribution Update Form at the end of this EPN and return it to Civil Service Pensions Division (address on form), by 16 February 2007. If you no longer wish to receive information from us, please complete Sections 1 and 2, and return.
Timing: Immediate
Civil Service Pensions Division (CSPD) communicates pension messages and policy changes to employers through the issuing of EPNs. EPNs supplement and update the EPG which is your primary source document on your roles and responsibilities for Civil Service pensions. PNs serve the purpose of giving you advanced warning of policy changes and they give you updates on the work CSPD has in hand.
The purpose of this EPN is to tell you about the changes we are making in the way we issue our material. We are also taking the opportunity to review our distribution list of employer contacts because a significant number of contacts have left or moved jobs without telling us.
We are making changes because:
Some months ago, we consulted with Employer Support Groups and Pensions Communication Network members on their current practices and their willingness to use electronically sourced material. The majority of members who have access to email and to our website said they were happy to move from using hard copy material to email and website. (A small number suggested putting the EPG in cd:rom format; however, CSPD decided against this method because of the frequency in policy changes and costs in production and postage.)
EPNs and PNs
As nearly all employers have email facility we intend to send EPNs and PNs electronically and cease sending hard copies. You can save them either in your own electronic folders or print off as you wish. (You don’t have to save any EPNs or PNs if you have access to the Civil Service pension website as we keep all our material on the website. Details of our site and how to access our material are at the end of this EPN.) There is a small but equally important number of employers who only have internal email facilities. If you are in this position, we can continue to send you EPNs and PNs in hard copy, but we will review this annually.
EPG
In future, we will update the website EPG only. We will brief you on the changes we make by issuing an EPN. (These EPNs, in effect, will replace the cover notes we currently send with the hard copy.) We will continue to provide revised sections in hard copy, on request, to those employers who do not have website access. Every employer will, however, be able to order a hard copy of the EPG if it is required for new HR/finance staff who are in training and whose role involves some aspect of pension administration.
Update Form If you are no longer responsible for pensions delivery to staff, please complete the appropriate sections of the form and return it to us so that we can delete your details from our distribution list.
If you know of a colleague who should be receiving our information, please ask them to complete a copy of the form with their details and we will add them to our distribution list. Also let us know if we are sending copies to staff who have left your organisation.
Return the form to us, preferably by email, to the Employer Helpdesk (our address is on the form).
This document replaces EPN105
Contacts:
Enquiries about content, distribution or to receive in a different format
employerhelpdesk@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
01256 846414
Employer Helpdesk
Civil Service Pensions
Grosvenor House
Basing View
Basingstoke
RG21 4HG