Lambeth Teacher with Lambeth NUT

CIRCULAR

Circular No. 63/01(D)

Date: 9 April 2001

To: Secretaries of Divisions and Local Associations - FOR INFORMATION

Dear Colleague

CLAIM FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO THE TEACHERS’ PENSION SCHEME (TPS)

The Teachers’ Panel has very recently submitted a claim for major improvements to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) that is designed to provide relevant and durable occupational pension provision for teachers at the start of the 21^st century.

The claim draws on significant changes that have been made to the pension arrangements in the Civil Service. In particular, an agreement to improve the future occupational pensions benefits for the Civil Service to provide a defined benefits scheme based 1/60^th of average salary for each year of service, together with a tax-free lump sum commutation option, and benefits payable to partners of unmarried contributors where there is a financially interdependent relationship.

The claim argues that some thirty years have elapsed since the last major review of teachers’ pensions was undertaken and that during that time major social and economic changes have taken place to which the TPS has not responded or has not fully and effectively responded.

The improvements sought are as follows:

· Teachers’ pensions to be calculated on the basis of 1/60^th for each year of reckonable service up to the age of 60, with the facility to commute part of that pension, up to the permitted Inland Revenue maximum, to provide a tax free lump sum payment.

· Teachers who work beyond the age of 60 without drawing pension should have their benefits actuarially increased to reflect later payment of pension benefits.

· All reckonable service from 1972 to count for all dependants’ benefits to provide equal benefits for equal levels of contribution.

· A spouse or partner’s pension, once awarded, to continue for the life of the spouse or partner.

· A death in service lump sum payment of three times salary to be payable to a spouse, nominated beneficiary or beneficiaries.

· The supplementary Death Grant to be payable at three times salary also.

· Ill health and death in service benefits to be based upon the teacher’s accrued service, together with enhancement of service to that which the teacher would have completed by age 60, or enhancement of 20 years subject to what service could have been completed by age 65 if more favourable, subject to overriding Inland Revenue limits.

· Teachers over the age of sixty who have not retired to have the option to commute their pension when they have a life expectancy of no more than twelve months.

· Where a contributor leaves a spouse or dependent partner, the level of children’s benefits payable to be 30 per cent of the deceased member’s accrued pension where there is one dependent child and 60 per cent of accrued pension where there are two or more dependent children, with a minimum of ten years’ service counting after enhancement.

· Where the contributor dies without leaving a spouse or dependent partner, the level of children’s benefits payable to be 50 per cent of the deceased member’s accrued pension where there is one dependent child and 100 per cent/the whole of the accrued pension where there are two or more dependent children, with a minimum of ten years’ service counting after enhancement.

· Effective and affordable provisions for early retirement, including a right for teachers aged 50 or over who lose their employment on grounds of redundancy to receive immediate payment of their accrued pension benefits without actuarial reduction and a full review of the present provisions of the TPS.

· A thorough review of the present abatement provisions with a view to ending or significantly limiting the scope of the present provisions.

· The provision for determining teachers’ pensions be subject to the same arrangements for dynamism as contained in the University Superannuation Scheme.

· There should be a minimum amount of service undertaken by supply teachers/hourly paid lecturers in the years immediately preceding retirement in order for them to have their average salary calculated in the same way as teachers undertaking regular part-time service.

· Part-time teachers should be included in the Scheme automatically in the same way as full-time teachers, but would, of course, retain the right to opt out.

The Panel has sought an early meeting of the Teachers’ Superannuation Working Party to consider this claim and we will advise you of further developments.

Yours sincerely