Spring 2000
That's telling us!
Over the last 3 months, WYPF members have taken part in one of the biggest surveys of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) members ever undertaken. As part of our Best Value consultation, a survey form was included in your 1999 information pack. Over 6000 surveys came back. The information in them will be very useful in shaping our service for the future.
Much of the work we do is laid down by the scheme's legal rules, but it is in our service to you where we can really make a difference. Many members used the survey to comment on our service. Most comments were very encouraging.
One member wrote: "Pensions information is provided in a clarity rarely seen in the public sector." "A 5 star service!" said another. There were some critical comments too, and we'll be looking at those very carefully to see what needs to be done. We'll be putting all your comments, good or bad, on our web site.
Private contractors in the LGPS
Recent changes to the pension scheme will allow private contractors who take over a local authority function to come into the LGPS. The new rules were issued by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
The change will protect the rights of local-authority employees who transfer to a private contractor under Best Value or other similar outsourcing arrangement. Contractors who already have an equal pension scheme to the LGPS will be able to offer membership of their scheme as an alternative.
Protecting Your Money
Anti-Fraud Initiative Pays Off
Over the past year, WYPF has been taking part in a National Anti-Fraud Initiative. Public agencies and local-authorities shared and compared the information they held on individuals. Where discrepancies were found, investigations were made.
The initiative turned up some interesting information for WYPF. We discovered that we were still paying a pension to someone who had been dead for over a year.
Police investigations revealed that a relative had been fraudulently receiving the pension. In court the relative was fined and ordered to pay costs. They were also ordered to pay compensation to cover the pension fraudulently received.
We'll keep-on working with the Anti-Fraud Initiative to make sure WYPF pensions only go to people who are entitled to them. After all, it's your money we're looking after.
Parental leave
Under new EEC rules, parents of children born from 15 December 1999 are entitled to up to 13 weeks extra leave up to their child's 5th birthday. WYPF members who take parental leave will be covered by the Local Government Pension Fund (LGPS) Leave of Absence rules.
Then, within 30 days of coming back to work, they must decide if they want to pay contributions for the time they were absent (after the first 30 days). If they pay the outstanding contributions, there won't be a gap in their period of membership.
If a member decides not to pay the outstanding contributions, there will be a break in membership for the time they didn't pay contributions. The LGPS arrangements for maternity leave are different, automatically covering all the period of absence the expectant mother is paid for. our employer can give you more information on parental and maternity leave.
Thumbs up for new statement
Just before the end of last year we sent out over 72,000 pension information packs. They were sent later than we would have liked, but on the whole they were extremely well received. he packs contained 2 important "firsts" for WYPF
They were sent to our members' home addresses for the first time. Employers distributed about 15,000 packs to members we didn't have an address for. Hopefully they've given us their addresses now.
And they included a Membership Certificate for the first time. The Membership Certificate showed the information we hold on pension scheme records. During January our telephone system logged over 16,000 calls from members checking the information. As the records are based on information employers send to us, we have had to pass many of the enquiries back to employers.
We're going to send this information every year from now on. So, you'll be able to see your membership – and your benefits – building up year on year. But there's more: After the end of every financial year, your employer gives us some information so we can keep your pension scheme record up to date. If your employer sends that information to us by 31 May, your pension information pack will be in the post to you by 31 August. And that's a promise!
Aiming for Best Value
The government has introduced new rules to make sure local authority services are run to 'Best Value' principles. Under Best Value, all local authority services will be tested to stringent performance principles once every 5 years. And with WYPF being a local authority service, Best Value will apply to us too.
Best Value principles focus on:
WYPF will undergo its review in the first year of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council's five year Best Value cycle. Best Value also makes sure that Local Authority services are constantly monitored against 'Key Performance Indicators' (KPIs).
The information we got from your completed surveys will help us decide what our KPIs should be. We'll let you know more in the future. back to contents
Spring 2000