Reporting Pensions newsletter
Your quarterly newsletter containing statutory pension information.
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Issue: Spring 2025
Annual Benefit Statements
Your annual benefit statement for your active employment will be available on your online pension account by 31 August 2025. Log in or register at https://oxfordshire.pension details.co.uk/
Your statement will show the pension benefits that you've built up in the Oxfordshire Pension Fund up to 31 March 2025 and provide an estimated projection to your normal pension age. Your statement also reminds you about whether you've nominated beneficiaries and prompts you to update your details.
If we have your email address, we will email you later in the summer to remind you that your statement is ready to view.
- If you haven't registered for an online account, head to https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ business/oxfordshire-pension-fund/pension-scheme-members/manage-your-pension-online for details on how to register.
- If you only selected paper, your statement will be posted to your home address. You do not need to contact us again.
McCloud Remedy
Have you heard about the McCloud Remedy? The McCloud remedy was put in place to make sure that younger members of the Scheme benefit from the same protections that older members received when the Scheme changed in 2014.
This year, we must include information about your entitlement under the McCloud Remedy on your annual benefit statement. Not all members are entitled to protection, but if you are, you will see some information on your benefit statement, telling you what those protections are. If you can’t see this, but you think you should be protected, please contact us.
You're likely protected by the remedy if:
- you joined the LGPS or another public service pension scheme before 1 April 2012, and
- you had pensionable service between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2022 (the remedy period), and
- you were under age 65 for part or the whole of the remedy period, and
- you have not had a disqualifying gap – a gap of more than five years that ended after 31 March 2012 when you were not paying into the LGPS or any other public service pension scheme.
You can find out more by reading the McCloud pages of the national LGPS member website, www.lgpsmember.org/mccloud-remedy/ or you can join a webinar. The webinars are run by Affinity Connect on behalf of the Local Government Association.
Pensions Awareness Week
15 to 19 September 2025
Are you currently paying LGPS contributions?
Let's Get Pensions Smart!
With so much pension focus in the national news, now is the time to check out your pension, take action and plan for your retirement. Let us help you grasp your pension.
Clwyd, Oxfordshire and Shropshire Pension Funds are collaborating to run free live online bite-sized presentations daily during Pension Awareness Week to help you understand your Local Government Pension Scheme benefits and options. The presentations are specifically for members currently paying pension contributions into the LGPS.
Head to https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/pensionawarenessweek for more information and to book yourself onto the sessions.
Annual allowance
The Annual Allowance is the most you can save in your pension per year before you have to pay tax. The annual allowance is currently £60,000.00. When your pension growth is close to or exceeds the allowance, we will issue a Pension Saving Statement to you before 6 October. If you don't receive a statement but know that you need one, then please get in touch immediately with Pension Services. If you exceed the annual allowance, you will have to pay tax to HMRC. This is your own personal responsibility. If the tax charge on the excess is at least £2,000, you may qualify to ask the fund to pay the charge on your behalf (also known as "Scheme Pays") in exchange for permanently reducing your benefit. It is your responsibility to report any payment due by breaching the Annual Allowance to HMRC on your self-assessment tax return.
You will find more information and a quick-check tool -
- https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/annual-allowance
- https://www.lgpsmember.org/more/aa-quick-check-tool.php
and to watch our helpful video, head to:
Timetable
- 6 April 2025 – End of Pension Input Period
- 6 October 2025 – Members will be notified of any breach of annual allowance by Pension Fund
- 31 December 2025 – Tax return online deadline (if HMRC is to collect tax through your tax code)
- 31 January 2026 – Final tax return deadline
- 31 July 2026 – Pension Fund must receive Scheme Pays election for Annual Allowance charges declared in tax return
How the Scheme is governed
In June, a new Pension Fund Committee met for the first time after the May elections in Oxfordshire, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to tell you a bit about the two main scheme governing bodies 1) the Pension Fund Committee and 2) the Local Pension Board.
Although Oxfordshire County Council is the 'Administering Authority' for Oxfordshire Pension Fund, it delegates the management of the administration and investments to the Pension Fund Committee.
The Committee:
- consists of seven elected councillor members and three non-voting employer and member representatives.
- plays a crucial role in ensuring the scheme complies with
- the LGPS regulations
- overriding pension legislation
- guidance issued by the Pensions Regulator
- is responsible for securing the financial future of the fund for you, the scheme members.
- does compulsory training to help them undertake this work.
- is supported and scrutinised in its role by the Oxfordshire Local Pension Board.
The Oxfordshire Local Pension Board:
- serves as a ‘critical friend’ for the Pension Fund Committee.
- helps ensure the fund is governed correctly.
- is made up of equal numbers of employer and member representatives.
- members will usually have a professional interest or understanding of pensions or of a closely related area, like payroll or employee benefits.
For more information, have a look at the pages on the LGPS member website https://www.lgpsmember.org/about-the-lgps/ how-the-lgps-is-run/
Affordable Housing and the Pension Fund
The Oxfordshire Pension Fund will invest £55 million over the next few years to build affordable homes in Oxfordshire and across the country.
There is a shortage of affordable housing in the UK, with the problem being particularly acute in our county. Investing in the building of new affordable homes helps address this issue, whilst also providing secure long-term returns to pay pensions.
This investment will enable approximately 160 affordable homes to be built for up to 650 people in Oxfordshire. Around half the new houses will be for social rent, with the remainder being affordable rent, plus a small amount of shared ownership.
The Oxfordshire Pension Fund is making this investment through the Man Group Community Housing Fund. Other investors into the fund include Wiltshire Pension Fund, London CIV Pension Pool and the Church of England.
Our investment will help to reduce the carbon emissions from housing in the county. Man Group have a target that all new properties they fund should have air source heat pumps instead of gas boilers and, where appropriate, solar panels. This should also help drive down energy costs for people living in the new homes.
The Oxfordshire Pension Fund has also committed to investing around £10 million into supported housing, providing homes for people with significant additional needs.
Useful links
National LGPS members website - www.lgpsmember.org
Detailed scheme member guide Oxfordshire Pension Fund - www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/pensions
Legal and General – top up your pension Fund -www.legalandgeneral.com/oxfordshirepensionfund/
Advisory services
Money Helper - https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en
The Pensions Regulator - www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/
State pension planning and forecasts - https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/
Be ‘scamsmart’ – find out more on how scammers work and get advice on the FCA’s website https://www.fc t/how-avoid- pension-scams