(i)         that the revised Torbay Council Pay Policy attached to this Record of Decision be approved; and

(ii)        that with effect from 1 April 2019, the employee contribution rate assessment for the Local Government Pension Scheme be moved to a monthly automated process, rather than the current manual annual review.

To enable the new Pay Policy and Local Government Pension Scheme Employee Contributions Banding Policy to be implemented from 1 April 2019.

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The changes come into effect from 1 April 2019.

At present, annually (or as an employee takes on a new position) the Council determines what the employees’ pension contribution rate should be, for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), based on their fixed contractual payments at that time.  If an employee changes contractual hours during a financial year (either increase or decrease), no changes are made to their contribution percentage (if applicable).  If the employee receives or ceases any additional pensionable payments after the annual assessment, no changes are made to their contribution percentage (if applicable).

It is now possible to automate this assessment process due to improved system functionality to review and take into consideration any relevant contractual changes, thus ensuring that the employee contribution rates are updated monthly.  This automated process would review the employees’ monthly pensionable payments and then determine which percentage should be used for the pension deduction.

This monthly assessment would take into account any contractual changes that have taken place since last months’ pay cycle resulting in a possible adjustment in the employees’ pension deduction.

As employees’ are contractually enrolled into the Local Government Pension Scheme, this automated process also has the added benefit of being able to automatically apply the pension scheme deductions to the employees post. These changes will made with effect from 1 April 2019.

The Torbay Council Pay Policy has been updated and refreshed to incorporate changes following the implementation of the new National Pay Spine from April 2019 and also current practice.  The revised Policy is attached to this Record of Decision.

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