In the budget on 29 October 2018 the UK Government announced changes to the Discount Rate which is used for financing purposes in public service pension schemes. The discount rate has been reduced from 2.8% above CPI per annum to 2.4% above CPI per annum, with a resulting impact on actuarial factors used in the schemes. The Government Actuary's Department (GAD) is reviewing the factors and will issue revised factors to SPPA over the next three months. Some calculations for the NHS, Teachers', Police and Fire Schemes in Scotland will be suspended until the new factors are received.
Transfers from non-club schemes to the NHS, Teachers', Fire and Police schemes in Scotland: The change may affect you if you have requested a transfer and the transfer payment was not received before 29 October 2018. If you accept a transfer in quote provided by us before 29 October 2018, within the guarantee period, we will review the value quoted against the new calculations and use the greater of the two. If you have not accepted your transfer and are still considering the action to take we will recalculate your transfer using the new factors if you decide to proceed.
The suspension of transfers does not apply to the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland), as revised transfer factors have already been issued to administering authorities.
Other calculations: Some other calculations are suspended for a short time until new factors are received. Any scheme members impacted by the change in factors will be advised on an individual basis.