News

Local Government Pension Scheme : Drop in Days

The London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) who administer the London Borough of Bexley Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) will be visiting the Borough during September and are giving employees the opportunity to discuss any aspects of the LGPS face to face. If you are interested and would like to know more, please see the LPFA advert for further information.

 

Prudential Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs): Presentations & Face to Face Meetings

If you are member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) you already benefit from a final salary scheme. You may want to learn about the options available to you to increase your pension through the in-house Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) scheme provided by Prudential.

We have arranged some pension presentations during September 2010, which aim to provide you with factual information on in-house AVCs provided by Prudential. Specialist Retirement Consultants will be able to explain the tax advantages of retirement saving in this way. After the presentations, which will take no longer than 1 hour, there will be an opportunity to talk to these Consultants and apply for AVCs if you wish, plus an opportunity to book a personal face to face meeting.

If you are interested and would like to book a place on one of the forthcoming presentations please see the Prudential flyer and follow the instructions.

 

Pensions Increase 2010

Please note that for the first time for many years there will be no pension increase in 2010 for the Local Government Pension Scheme.

The annual pension increase is linked to the RPI at the end of September each year. As this was minus 1.4% in 2009 there will be no increase in your occupational pension. Your pension will therefore remain the same.

London Borough of Bexley have no say in setting this award and does not have the power to award any differing increase. However the basic state pension will rise 2.5% from April.

Pensions Increase 2010 FAQ's for Pensioners (PDF 36KB - opens new window)

New Contribution Bands from 1st April 2010

Please be aware that from 1st April 2010, the new contribution pay band are:

Pay Range	Contribution Rate
£0-12,600	5.5%
£12,601 - £14,700	5.8%
£14,701 - £18,900	5.9%
£18,901 - £31,500	6.5%
£31,501 – £42,000	6.8%
£42,001 - £78,700	7.2%
>£78,700	7.5%

 

Protected Manual workers

For protected manual workers the contribution rate in 2010/2011 will be the lesser of 6.5% or relevant figure from normal banding tables. From 1 April 2011 the contribution rate will be the relevant figure from normal banding tables

 

Pension Surgeries

The London Pension Fund Authority, who administer the Bexley Local Government Pension Scheme recently visited London Borough of Bexley, offering employees opportunities of face to face meetings.

The feedback received indicated that the event was successful - resolving queries for many employees. If you were unable to attend the surgeries this time around, please watch this space for dates of future meetings.

 

Credit Crunch - is my pension safe?

Read our bulletin (PDF - 145KB) on how the credit crunch affects your pension.

News on the 2008 Local Government Pension Scheme and LGPS developments can now be found on their own dedicated pages.

 

Pension paydays 2010/11

The pay dates for pensions is available for the period April 2010 to March 2011.