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Pension Newsletter - issue 2 |
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This is our second newsletter. Please feel free to share with those who may find this information of use.
While we appreciate that you will be most interested in the specific pension issues affecting you, we hope you understand why this newsletter focuses on updates across the board. |
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We continue to work closely with West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) to ensure pension matters are dealt with effectively.
Members affected by the Age Discrimination Remedy have been expecting to receive a combined Annual Benefit Statement with a new Remedial Service Statement (ABS/RSS).
There is no confirmed date for issue of these Statements, as there are ongoing software issues. WYPF are working hard to have this matter resolved by 30 June 2025.
We are aware that WYPF are manually issuing some ABS/RSS to a small number of individuals, including some of those affected by Immediate Choice at East Sussex.
WYPF are managing the release of Statements closely and following a priority list. They are dealing with around 400 cases across 24 services, which is why the manual process is taking some time.
We have also fed back to WYPF that some of you have not received any letters at all and continue to work to improve our own communications. Our website www.esfrs.org/pensions will continue to be updated.
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We have reached out to other Services and Local Government Association to ensure we have the latest information and support.
We have provided further training to our current Pension team and brought in additional staff, to ensure we are ready to process your pension when the full suite of Statements are released.
We have been reviewing outstanding pension issues and queries to make sure we are clear which have been resolved, and those which have not. This is helping us prioritise actions.
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The Pensions Board met on 28 April 2025 and reviewed our current position.
For the Age Discrimination Remedy (McCloud), this included why we have not been able to provide ABS-RSS, resulting in a breach of our requirement under the regulations. We assessed this breach as material, meaning it was serious enough for us to decide to report it to The Pensions Regulator.
The Board also reviewed the Part Time Workers remedy and remedy extension to March 2026. This does not mean we will take another year to progress these cases. It means there is no requirement to report any breach. We have identified all of those within scope of this remedy and where we have current contact details, will be in touch over the coming months.
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