Covid news and FAQs

To support businesses to retain staff during the pandemic, the Government has introduced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the furlough scheme), which is set to last until the end of September 2021. You can find more information on this and other employment issues from the LGA Workforce team.

The Government has previously announced that it intends to replace the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme with the Job Support Scheme Open and the Job Support Scheme Closed. You can find more information on these from the LGA Workforce team.

While an employee is on one of the support schemes, the member and employer pay their contributions on the actual pensionable pay received (including the part funded by the Government). Assumed pensionable pay does not apply.

While an employee was in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme before 1 August 2020, the employer could reclaim the cost of employer contributions up to the minimum required for automatic enrolment, that is 3% of income above the lower limit of qualifying earnings (which was £512 per month until 5 April 2020 and is £520 per month from 6 April 2020). The cost of employer contributions above the 3% minimum fell to the employer.

The employer is unable to reclaim any employer contributions for the period from 1 August 2020.

Members will continue to build up CARE pension based on the actual pay they receive (including the part funded by government).

If the pay received is less than normal (because the employer chooses not to top up pay to 100%), the pension they build up will also be less. The member may be eligible to buy additional ‘extra’ pension to make up for the pension lost during this period. In England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the employer is not obliged to split the cost with the member but can choose to. In Scotland, the employer cannot pay the entire cost. The employer could choose to award additional pension to the member, based on the pension ‘lost’ during a period of reduced pay.

Final salary benefits are usually calculated using the pensionable pay earned in the year before leaving the scheme; however, one of the two previous years’ pay is used, if higher. This should prevent final salary benefits from being detrimentally affected if the member’s pay is reduced while in a support scheme.

In our view, if an England & Wales member’s contract of employment is changed when they are put into a support scheme, they will not have the option to have their final pay calculated as the average of any three consecutive years’ pay in the last 13 years.

A certificate of protection in Scotland will not apply because the reduction is temporary.

In our view, as part of a short-time working arrangement, where a member is only required to work some of their normal hours, the employer may need to temporarily reduce the member’s contractual hours.

Where this happens, it will impact on some calculations, such as the final pay calculation and the underpin calculation.

The final pay calculation for a member who is in part-time employment is based on the pay that would have been paid for a single comparable whole-time employment. In this case, a single comparable whole-time employment could be the employment assuming the member was working whole time and was not in the support scheme. This means that you will need to be careful when grossing up part-time pay to full-time pay as the pay for the unworked hours may not represent the pay a whole-time employee would have earned for those hours (for example, the pay under the support scheme may be capped and may be worked out on pay earned in a previous period).

For the purposes of working out the final salary part of the underpin, the membership should be recorded based on the contractual hours and the whole-time contractual hours.

Assumed pensionable pay (APP) is used in the calculation of the death grant and any survivor benefits if a member dies in service. APP is usually calculated using the average pensionable pay the member receives in the three months before the pay period in which they die.

If a member receiving reduced pay dies in service, employers should make use of the provision in the regulations that allows them to substitute a higher pay figure to reflect the pensionable pay the member would normally have received.

Assumed pensionable pay (APP) is used to calculate the ill-health enhancement for a member entitled to an enhanced ill-health pension. APP is usually calculated using the average pensionable pay the member receives in the three months before the pay period in which they retire.

If a member receiving reduced pay retires with an enhanced ill-health pension, employers should make use of the provision in the regulations that allows them to substitute a higher pay figure to reflect the pensionable pay the member would normally have received.

The Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme guidance states that all the grant received to cover an employee’s subsidised furlough pay must be paid to them in the form of money. No part of the grant should be netted off to pay for the provision of a salary sacrifice scheme. Where the employer provides benefits to furloughed employees through a salary sacrifice scheme, these benefits should be in addition to the wages that must be paid under the terms of the job retention scheme.

We await government guidance regarding the Job Support Schemes (Open and Closed).

When setting the contribution rate at an April review, any reduction in pay as a result of being in a support scheme should not be ignored.

Regulations in England & Wales and Northern Ireland provide that where there is a change to employment, or a material change, during the year, the employer may make a further determination and reallocate a member to a different band. In Scotland a further determination must be made if there is a permanent material change to the terms and conditions of a member’s employment during the year. The employer must notify the member if they reallocate them to a different band. 

Further information is available from the LGA guide on discretionary policies and SPPA employer guidance for the assessment of member contribution rates.

No, regulations confirm that employee contributions must be submitted to the administering authority in line with the timescales in the Pensions Act 1995. That is, by either the 22nd (where they are paid electronically) or the 19th of the month following the last day of the month in which the contributions are deducted. If an employer fails to submit employee contributions on time, paragraph 148 of TPR Code 14 states that where ‘the scheme manager has reasonable cause to believe that the failure is likely to be of material significance to the regulator in the exercise of any of its functions, they must give notice of the failure to the regulator and the member within a reasonable period after the end of the prescribed period’.

Regulations state that the rates and adjustments certificates must be obtained before the first anniversary of the valuation date unless the Secretary of State/Scottish ministers/Northern Ireland Department for Communities (the Department) agrees to a later date.

In our view, regulations confirm that an administering authority may determine the intervals for employer contribution payments, as they consider appropriate. There must be at least one payment per year. Whatever intervals are set, the total contributions due for the year, as set out in the rates and adjustments certificate, must be received by year end. Each payment must equal the appropriate proportion of the total contributions due for the year as determined by the authority. 

There is no provision for non-payment ‘holidays’ where employer contributions are not paid during the year. Any employer seeking to defer employer contribution payments should discuss this with the administering authority. The administering authority must consider any risk to the fund’s cash flow requirements and may have agreed a policy on this issue.

If an employer fails to pay contributions on time, regulations confirm that the administering authority may levy interest of base rate plus one percent from the due date to the payment date daily with three monthly rests. If the late payment is likely to be of material significance to the regulator, then the late payment will also be reported to the Pensions Regulator, in accordance with Paragraph 147 of TPR Code 14.

No, except for in Northern Ireland, regulations confirm that the only circumstances, outside of the conditions of the admission agreement, in which an employer ceases membership is if there are no active members (an exiting employer).

An employer in Northern Ireland may be required to cease active membership to protect the solvency of the fund or prevent liabilities falling on other employers with the agreement of the Department.

n England & Wales, administering authorities have, subject to conditions, the following flexibilities to manage exiting employers:

• suspend liability to pay the exit payment for a period of up to 3 years where the administering authority is of the reasonable opinion that the employer is likely to have one or more active members within the suspension period (the employer must continue to pay contributions as reasonably required by the authority during that time)
• enter into a written agreement with the employer for that employer to defer their liability to pay an exit payment (deferred debt agreement). The employer would continue to make contributions at the secondary rate
• spread the exit payment over such period as the authority considers reasonable.

In respect of the flexibilities set out in the last two bullets, which were introduced from 23 September 2020, MHCLG and the Scheme Advisory Board will be issuing guidance over the next few months. 

In Scotland current regulations provide that an administering authority can suspend an employer’s liability to pay an exit payment indefinitely. However, if a suspension notice is served the regulations provide that the employer must continue to pay contributions as determined by the actuary until the suspension notice is withdrawn. 

In Northern Ireland regulations provide for an exit payment to be deferred with the approval of the Department during which time contributions continue to be paid by the employer as determined by the actuary. If there is a material change in circumstances the exit date may be varied with the approval of the Department.

Regulations confirm that this is an administering authority discretion which may be limited by the Funding Strategy Statement (FSS). For example, an FSS may state that strain costs must be paid immediately except in exceptional circumstances and only for ill health cases. Employers seeking more flexibility in this area during the crisis should discuss it with the administering authority.

Employer pension contributions will be based on assumed pensionable pay (APP). Employee pension contributions will be based on the amount of the employee’s actual pay during emergency volunteering leave. All scheme discretions (administering authority and employing authority) should operate in the same way as if the member were receiving normal pay.

It should be noted that the provisions covering emergency volunteering leave in the Coronavirus Act 2020 have not yet been commenced by the Government.

If any LGPS members are seconded on emergency staffing to the NHS, their pension benefits continue on the same basis as before the secondment.

Deferred and pensioner LGPS members who return to work in local government or are offered contracts of employment with the NHS (as part of emergency staffing) will have access to pension provision in the appropriate pension scheme. If they are issued with an NHS voluntary agreement, it does not constitute an employment contract and therefore they will not have access to the NHS pension scheme.

Some administering authorities have a policy to abate a member’s pension if they return to local government employment. The Government’s policy is that pensioners who return to roles as key workers should not be financially penalised for helping tackle COVID-19. On 19 March, the England & Wales Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) sent a letter to the chairs of pension committees to that effect.

Employers and returning employees may wish to check the administering authority’s abatement policies.

A Scottish employing authority must abate a member’s compensatory added years (CAY) if:

• the person returns to work and is employed by Scottish LGPS employer or a relevant English or Welsh employer (regardless of whether the person re-joins the LGPS), and 
• the earnings from their re-employment exceed specified criteria

When the re-employment ends the CAY could be permanently abated depending on the length of re-employment.

Similar rules apply in England and Wales; however, we do not envisage these members will be re-employed to assist with the COVID-19 response as it has not been possible to award added years since 2006.

Currently, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has called up around 2,000 reservists to assist with the Government’s COVID-19 response.

LGPS members on reserve forces leave can choose to remain in the LGPS. If an employee chooses to remain in the LGPS, their contributions will be based on Assumed Pensionable Pay (APP).

The employer must tell the MOD the APP figure, the amount of basic employee and employer contributions that must be paid and details of any additional contributions the member is paying. The MOD will pay the contributions to the administering authority. Any payments made by the employer to a member who is on reserve forces leave are non-pensionable.

Employers in England and Wales should encourage members to look at the member FAQs. These include questions about reducing or stopping contributions, pension scams and other guidance on how to deal with the financial effects they may be suffering.

Yes, the scheme specifies that payments are separate to and regardless of other registered pension scheme benefits. A summary note on the scheme is available on the COVID-19 page of the SAB website. Further information is also available from the life assurance scheme page on the NHSBSA website. The NHSBSA have also provided additional Scheme information for employers, which covers how to make a claim.

The Scottish Government has introduced the NHS Scotland and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme. The Scheme may provide a lump sum and survivor benefits to families of frontline NHS staff who die as a result of COVID-19. The Scheme is designed for those who do not qualify for full death benefits under the NHS pension schemes. The Scheme also provides for a one-off payment of £60,000 where a qualifying social care worker dies as a consequence of contracting COVID-19 at work. The Scottish Government has published a summary.

The Welsh Government has introduced the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme 2020 Wales, which provides for a one-off payment of £60,000 in respect of a qualifying death. The scheme is similar to the English scheme.

The Pension Regulator’s (TPR) COVID-19 guidance for trustees and public service schemes recommends that administrators focus their activities on making sure they deliver critical processes. For the LGPS, we recommend that employers prioritise: 

• providing leaver and pay information for retirements
• providing pay information for any death in service
• paying employer and employee contributions and providing supporting information within agreed timescales.

Any employer that is having difficulties in completing these pension administration tasks should contact the administering authority urgently.

An employer working at a reduced capacity due to COVID-19 may not be able to supply accurate pay details in respect of a retiring LGPS member within the normal timescales. An employer in this position should discuss this issue with the administering authority. The administering authority may have adopted one or more of the following process changes: 

• Accepting leaver information electronically instead of requiring paper forms
• Accepting estimated pay information from the employer
• Using pay information from a previous year to estimate the LGPS benefits payable.

If estimated pay figures are used, employers must provide accurate pay information as soon as they are able to. A final calculation of the member’s benefits will then be performed and any corrections made.

We contacted the Association of Local Authority Medical Advisers (ALAMA) who confirmed that the instruction below has been posted on their website: 

‘During the current COVID-19 crisis, it is important to continue to progress ill health retirement applications. It is also particularly important that assessments remain fair and reasonable, and that should include requesting GP and specialist reports as required. There has never been a requirement for these assessments to be face to face, therefore paperwork reviews, with telephone clarification if needed, is the most appropriate way to progress these. 

If it is not possible to get reports, an assessment should be based on whether reports are likely to influence your decision further, and whether you have enough objective evidence to make an opinion. Opinions should always be ‘on balance of probability’. There will be times when you simply don’t have sufficient objective evidence to support ill health retirement, and you have been unable to get clinical reports. You should suggest that the applicant requests copies of clinical reports direct from their GP.’

Each case will be different and will need to be assessed on its own merits. However, where an employee is reaching the end of their sick pay the employer could put them back on full pay or, if applicable, furlough them. The LGA workforce update: job retention scheme has more information on this.

In England and Wales, any delay could affect the date from which a post-2014 deferred pension is paid on ill health grounds, or the date that a Tier three pension is upgraded to Tier two. Employers may wish to ask IRMPs to include information in their report about any delay due to COVID-19 that has affected the member’s application.

The latest TPO COVID-19 update confirms that TPO has limited access to their post because their office is open with restricted access. This means there may be some delays in processing incoming and outgoing post. Wherever possible, people should contact TPO electronically, either via their website or by email.

They will, wherever possible, use their discretion to extend the three year time limit for new applicants affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pension Administration Strategy is a voluntary agreement between the administering authority and the employers. If either party is experiencing difficulties in meeting the agreed targets, they should discuss this with one another.

Administering authorities must issue annual benefit statements to active members by 31 August 2020. Administering authorities can only produce benefit statements if employers supply them with the member data they need. If an employer is struggling to provide monthly or annual data, they should discuss this with the administering authority as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, TPR’s update for trustees, employers and administrators confirmed that they understand many non-critical services may be affected and this may include delays in producing annual benefit statements.

TPR’s update on reporting duties and enforcement activity confirms that TPR will assess breaches on a case-by-case basis and respond pragmatically where the scheme can demonstrate COVID-19 related reasons for any breaches.