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Pension Newsletter - issue 3 |
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This is our third newsletter and we hope you find this information of use. It summarises progress in all areas and we realise some of this may not apply to your specific circumstances. We will continue to keep you updated.
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Remedial Service Statements |
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West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) continue to work towards the 30 June 2025 date to issue combined Annual Benefit Statement and Remedial Service Statement (ABS/RSS) for members affected by the Age Discrimination Remedy.
We understand that the software issue has not yet been fully resolved, however we are updating and preparing all the appropriate data to ensure the statements are accurate when released.
There has been little update with regards progress, but they have assured us that this date is still achievable for the breach they have reported.
We are working to ensure accurate data is supplied to the pensions calculator produced by the Government Actuaries Department.
The Payroll team are adjusting pensions contributions based on the remedy period for each affected scheme member. Some of these calculations are more complicated than others and are individual to each member.
You may be aware that some statements have been produced and pensions been put into payment. These have been manually produced and are being prioritised through a hierarchy being applied by WYPF.
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Eligible scheme members were invited to select their preferred scheme option in September 2015. This was the ‘First Options exercise’. A Second Options exercise is currently underway.
Nationally the deadline for applying the remedy for Matthews Second option exercise cases has been extended until 31 March 2026.
We are working to ensure that we can send out estimates to those affected as soon as possible so they are able to make decisions on their future.
Because of the large numbers involved this may take some months to achieve but we are aiming to complete the first stage of this process by September 2025.
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Internal Dispute Resolution Process |
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We have received several IDRPs from members and we have responded to a number of these this week under Stage one of the process. We continue to work through others as these have required allocation of resources in order to consider and resolve.
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Since the last update we have successfully appointed a new manager. They are currently working one day a week with us whilst working their notice period before joining us full time next month.
We are putting in place additional support from another fire and rescue service to provide us with improved management framework and guidance within the Pensions team.
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