Sorry for being a Civil Servant but I would love some help

hugheskevi

The whole Classic/Alpha/Partnership thing was a right old palaver back in 2015 when they made the changes. I could have stayed in Classic for another 2 or 3 years under the transitional arrangements, which would have been my choice, but at the time the rules said you couldn't move from Classic to Partnership. It was quite ludicrous really, anyone in Alpha, Premium, Classic Plus, Nuvos could move to Partnership but not Classic.

The rules then were that those who joined pre-2002 could only join Partnership once they moved to alpha. Classic Plus members would therefore also be prevented from switching, as would premium members who had chosen to switch from classic to premium in 2002.

That rule was very quietly changed a few months later.

From April 2018 any member has been free to switch to Partnership. By then, only a small number were unable to switch anyway (protected members who joined pre 2002)

When I took my Classic earlier this year the 4 years CPI increases were much higher than my pay "rises" over that time. Obviously if I live to say 80 or 85 the Alpha would have paid significantly more overall but we would have had a large difference in income pre and post SPA.

Good to see that you considered it - unfortunately lots of people just look at the 0% contribution to Partnership and switch. Now you have taken your classic pension, you might want to consider whether alpha or Partnership is better for your circumstances. Alpha will be the better overall value, but as you say, Partnership can deliver more in the period before State Pension age. You wouldn't need to work much longer to cover the amount from Partnership through more salary though.

I recently calculated what the compounded CPI increases in Alpha would have been and I think it came out at about 8% so unless I am missing something I think I am well in front on that one.

You need to look at the value of what goes in and the rate at which it increases. A lot more goes into alpha initially (if you measured the capital value of the pension being accrued) than into Partnership.

BoxerfanUK

Another ex CS here. I took 'Formal Retirement' @ 55 re-employed the next day in a lower grade. Finally finished last year age 59 with 45/80. Very thankful and proud of my 35 years so :beer: to all current, ex and retired CS's.

mapleoak

Hi BoxerfanUK

How did you manage 45/80 from 35 years or have I missed something?

Kind Regards

BoxerfanUK

mapleoak wrote: »

Hi BoxerfanUK

How did you manage 45/80 from 35 years or have I missed something?

Kind Regards

Hi Mapleoak,
As an ex HMPS employee I had ‘Reserved Rights’, every year beyond 20 was doubled for pension purposes, so 32.5 years service equalled 45/80 and a right to retire @ 55 without any actuarial reduction to pension.

mapleoak

Hi BoxerfanUK

Thanks for explaining, thought I’d missed a trick!!

Kind Regards

jerrysimon

BoxerfanUK wrote: »

Hi Mapleoak,
As an ex HMPS employee I had ‘Reserved Rights’, every year beyond 20 was doubled for pension purposes, so 32.5 years service equalled 45/80 and a right to retire @ 55 without any actuarial reduction to pension.

Interesting. I too had "reserved rights". What does that mean as every year above 20 was not doubled (though I did work 40 years anyway so doubt that matters) but I did also have an actuarial reduction retiring at 56.5 instead of 60 ?


PS Hmm found the bit of paper with this and it said that as I changed depts I still had rights under the old pension scheme that I transferred years from into the new scheme. It does not say what those rights were, though I think it related to any redundancy payment which is one reason I was never successful in applying in that I was told it would be too expensive!

BoxerfanUK

jerrysimon wrote: »

Interesting. I too had "reserved rights". What does that mean as every year above 20 was not doubled (though I did work 40 years anyway so doubt that matters) but I did also have an actuarial reduction retiring at 56.5 instead of 60 ?


PS Hmm found the bit of paper with this and it said that as I changed depts I still had rights under the old pension scheme that I transferred years from into the new scheme. It does not say what those rights were, though I think it related to any redundancy payment which is one reason I was never successful in applying in that I was told it would be too expensive!

Not sure what line of the CS you are/were in Jerry, but in HMPS 'Reserved Rights' means as I said, and referred to the 'Classic' scheme. It was stopped to new staff in post in 1987.

I believe some other Gov' depts also had similar, such as NHS etc

jerrysimon

I was in the scientific research area though responsible for IT. The scheme was the Agricultural and Food Reseach Council. I transferred from the MOD to there in 1990.

The letter speaks of me transferring into the scheme after 1987 but says I was still elligable for the same reserved rights to the former arrangements and refers to part 2 of section 10 of the booklet, but unfortunately I no longer have the booklet and can't find anything on line.

mapleoak

Hi

Found the “smoking gun” in the 2010 CS pension guidance and is specific to Prison Officers as BoxerfanUK said:-

Doubling of service for Prison Officers
Prison Officers in post on 30 September 1987 may reckon service at double its actual length after completing 20 years service. No doubling will count for compensation, service will only reckon at its actual length for compensation

jerrysimon

I found this

---

This guide tells you about the compensation benefits available under theCivil Service Compensation Scheme 2010 if you are made compulsorily redundant. Before making a decision it is strongly recommended that you obtain a written estimate from JSS.


goes on to say

"Reserved Rights. Some people who have remained in continuous employment since befo re April 1987 have pre 1987 „reserved righ ts‟. (They were in post on 1 April 1987 under age 40 and in a mobile grade). If you are still under 50 on your last day of service you will receive the following terms:

Departure during Year 1* – 60% of the reserved rights amount
Departure during Year 2 – 50% of the reserved rights amount
Departure after year 2 – 40% of the reserved rights amount

*Year 1 will start on 22 December 2010. Year 2 will start on 22 December 2011.

The amounts will be worked out using the pay and service at 21 December 2010 an d adjusted to ta ke account of inflation during the period up to the last day of service. If you would get a better result under the new terms, we‟ll pay you that instead. "

----

So I assume that it was associated with redundancy and no longer applied after the 2nd year i.e. 2012 and my reserved rights ended ?

I left long after that anyway in 2017.

Towards the end of my time employed, the government reduce the number of years payable 1 month/year dependant on service to stop big payouts. I think when I left it was down to 3 weeks for every year with a max of 13 years service even if you had done longer.