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Useful scheme information



How to become a South Yorkshire Pension Fund employer

To become a SYPF employer you will need to be a body listed in Schedule 2 of the LGPS Regulations 2013

Organisations such as; County Councils, District Councils, Academies and further and higher education corporations are named in the LGPS regulations as scheme employers and automatically participate in the scheme.

Administering authorities can admit organisations that are not automatically scheme employers but who satisfy certain other conditions. These are called 'admission bodies'.

Admission bodies fall into two main categories:

•   A body that has a community of interest with Local Government employers. It is a 'not for profit' organisation and is admitted to the Fund by way of an Admission Agreement.

•   A company that has taken on work on behalf of a scheme employer by means of a contract or other arrangement and is admitted to the Fund by way of an admission agreement.

Employees of an admission body can join the LGPS if the admission agreement allows it.

  • Academies If you are a school and
    are considering converting
    to an academy
  • Admission body If you are an employer choosing
    to participate in the LGPS under
    an admission agreement i.e. a
    contractor or a charity

An Academy is automatically a Scheme employer upon conversion. This means that all non-teaching staff employed by an Academy Trust upon conversion, and any new members of staff who are employed post-conversion, are entitled to membership of the scheme.

LGPS Regulation 2013 Definition
A proprietor of an academy within the meaning of section 579 (general interpretation) of the Education Act 1996 who has entered into academy arrangement within the meaning of section 1 (academy arrangements) of the Academies Act 2010.

LGA Academy Brochure opens in new window
 

The converting School needs to complete an employee Data file detailing all of the staff who are part of the transfer. Please send this information via a secure messaging service. Data file [15 kb]

The completion of the Point of contact form [278 kb]

The completion of the Direct Debit Mandate, SYPA collect contributions via Direct Debit, please a rrange for the completion of the mandate in readiness for the admission Direct debit mandate [457 kb] Please refer to the section on our website regarding the Direct Debit collection where we have a guide and FAQs regarding the process

Details of the Multi Academy Trust (MAT), if applicable.

Completion of the Funding Declaration and Billing address [683 kb]

Copy of the Secretary of State for Education - Academy Order  

Please send the following documents via secure messaging, if you do not have access to a secure messaging service please contact us for further assistance

  1. Download EXCEL Data file [15 kb] (please send securely)
  2. Download PDF Point of contact form [278 kb]
  3. Download PDF Direct debit mandate [457 kb] Please refer to the section on our website regarding Direct Debit Collection
  4. Download PDF Funding Declaration and Billing address [683 kb]

An application can take a minimum of three months to process, but we are unable to confirm the exact timescales due to various factors which may affect the application process e.g. receipt of information, data accuracy, and delay in academy conversions.

Where a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) is in place, it is legally the scheme employer for staff in all the academies in its trust. However, it is acceptable practice for LGPS funds to treat each academy in a MAT as a separate employer, because each Academy has its own staffing profile. Employer contribution rates can therefore differ between academies within the same MAT. Some MATs may want to request that SYPA treat them as a single employer for relevant staff in all its academies. The benefits for a MAT to be considered as a single employer include:

uniform contributions and employer rates across the MAT for that particular fund
reduced annual administration costs/burdens e.g. in identifying/allocating employee costs for individual academies
the MAT might be considered less of a risk than an individual academy, which could impact employer contribution rates and deficit repayment arrangements.

However, the MAT should be aware that being treated as a single employer will mean a sharing of assets and liabilities across all their academies. They may therefore incur extra costs to carry out the necessary calculations to share out those assets and liabilities each time a school enters or leaves the MAT.

Once the actuarial work has been carried out by the funds actuary we will forward the school/trust details of the employer contribution rate and any deficit repayment arrangements. When an academy becomes a scheme employer under the LGPS Regulations, it takes on a responsibility to meet the liabilities for the employees (active members) at the point of conversion. The calculation to determine how assets and liabilities are allocated between the local authority (the previous scheme employer) and the academy on conversion is very complex, and is carried out locally by the fund’s actuary. In all cases, liability for pre-conversion pensioner and deferred members remains with the local authority. However, the methodology used for the allocation of assets may result in the academy not inheriting a sufficient share of assets to meet the liabilities of the active members who are transferred. Where this is the case, the Academy will immediately have a deficit on conversion. Deficit recovery arrangements are set out in our Pension Administration Strategy

The actuarial fees quoted are approximate and can vary to those quoted, additional fees can be added if data supplied to the actuary isn’t accurate or timely. These costs are payable by the school. The support grant given to the school by the Department of Education to help with the cost of converting to an academy status can be used to cover this.

Calculation of opening position and contribution rate £495 +VAT ( £605+ VAT with Bond assessment) approx.
Central MAT employer opening position and contribution rate £330 +VAT Pooled rate and £495 + VAT non pooled MATS approx.

Academy Conversion Confirmed - the next steps

Academy Conversion Confirmed – Once the Academy has converted it is important to know what the next steps and responsibilities to the new employer has to maintain:

SYPA collect contributions via Direct Debit, Please refer to the section on our website regarding the Direct Debit collection

The employer contribution rate is calculated during the actuarial assessment and will be payable from the conversion date.

This rate will be subject to review at the next triennial actuarial valuation

Once the academy has converted the employee pension contributions should be paid to the Fund. The employee Contribution Pay Bands page

The employee contribution rate would be payable from the conversion date.

The Academy (or their payroll provider) must submit a Monthly Data Collection (MDC) file via the SYPA secure online Employer Web site. For information on uploading monthly submissions, producing the file, hints, tips and FAQ’s, please refer to our Monthly data submissions guide. Submission should be made in accordance with the MDC collection dates as shown on the table in the Collection of Pension Contributions By Direct Debit Process Guide

Please read our Administration Strategy It sets out, amongst other things, how the Administering Authority, SYPA, will administer the Pension Scheme and Fund on behalf of Employing Organisations, and their Scheme Members, participating in the South Yorkshire Pension Fund, its requirements for employers in terms of the timely and accurate provision of information pertinent to the administration of the Scheme and Fund, and the penalties to be applied to those employing organisations failing to meet their duties, responsibilities and obligations as detailed within the  Pension Administration Strategy

If an academy or multi-academy trust (MAT) chooses to outsource particular services (e.g. catering or cleaning services) to another provider, and that involves transferring employment of individuals, the contracted provider must also offer access to LGPS to those employees who are transferring, under Fair Deal. To do this, the academy or MAT must ensure the contractor body has, admitted Body Status, governed by an admission agreement. The agreement will apply to all transferring staff. However, the contractor is not bound to offer LGPS to new staff and therefore a ‘closed’ agreement restricted to transferring staff only is usual practice. A scheme employer who is outsourcing a function is known as the “letting authority”. If outsourcing, the Academy or MAT should remember that if an admission agreement ends (for example, if the contract with the Academy is terminated) any outstanding employer contributions required to meet pension liability obligations, may ultimately revert to them, as the letting authority.

South Yorkshire Pension Fund has a dedicated Employer Engagement team who are committed to supporting employers.

We offer a range of different ways to engage and support our employers on the Employer Engagement page

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