The newspaper for retired BBC Pension Scheme members • February 2019 • Issue 1 PROSPERO ALEXANDRA PALACE ENJOYS £27M PENSION MAKEOVER SCHEME PAGE 9 | PENSIONS BENEFITS UPDATE internet access (of which Age UK claims there are Budget 2019 Carer’s Allowance nearly 4 million) are therefore missing out on this Key announcements from the chancellor’s Budget financial help. Age UK carried out a ‘mystery speech on 29 October 2018 include: – Scotland shopping’ exercise following repeated complaints In September 2018, Carer’s Allowance was the first from older people and their families about being • From April 2019 the National Living Wage will benefit to be transferred to Scotland under the unable to access services and entitlements if they increase from £7.83 an hour to £8.21. This is a Scotland Act 2016. Carers living in Scotland will are not computer users. £690 annual pay rise for a full-time worker; continue to receive Carer’s Allowance from the DWP An estimated £3.8 billion in pensioner benefits, • The Personal Allowance – the amount you earn on behalf of the Scottish government for the next two including Housing Benefit, goes unclaimed each year. before you have to start paying income tax – will years, as well as receiving a Carer’s Allowance According to Age UK, there are still 1.9 million increase by a further £650 in April 2019 to £12,500. Supplement from the Scottish government. pensioners living below the poverty line, with around This rise comes a year earlier than planned and will a million more just above this threshold who are be maintained in 2020; Power of attorney struggling to make ends meet. • The Higher Rate Threshold will increase from £46,350 to £50,000 in April 2019. This means that refunds in 2019/20, there will be nearly 1 million fewer Last year, the government set up a refund scheme higher rate taxpayers than in 2015/16. for nearly two million people who set up ‘power of Tell Us Once Tell Us Once is a service that lets you report a attorney’ arrangements over the past five years. higher rate £87.65 death to most government organisations in Attendance Allowance They estimate nearly two million people may be able one go. In 2017 to 2018, it was used by over lower rate £58.70 to get back part of their application fee, if they paid 360,000 people. Tell Us Once will notify Carer’s Allowance £66.15 to set up either lasting powers of attorney (LPA) organisations including: New State pension £168.60 or enduring powers of attorney (EPA) between • HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Old State pension £129.20 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017. The Office of the Public Guardian charged £110 to set up each type single £167.25 • DWP Pension Credit until April 2017, when it cut the fee to £82 after • HM Passport Office couple £255.25 building up an £89 million surplus. The surplus arose because greater numbers signed up than • Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) initially expected. You can find out more at: It will also contact some public sector pension Ofgem energy cap gov.uk/power-of-attorney-refund or you can call the schemes so that they cancel future pension Ofgem, the energy regulator, has confirmed that refunds helpline on 0300 456 0300. People have payments. Tell Us Once is not available in the cap for a standard dual fuel energy customer until February 2021 to make their refund claim. Northern Ireland or the following local authorities: will be £1,137 from 1 January 2019. The cap will Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Eastbourne, save customers who use a typical amount of gas Harrow, Hastings, Lewes, Liverpool, Manchester, and electricity around £76 per year on average, Benefits online only Medway, Rother and Wealden. If you have with a typical customer on the most expensive tariff Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction – two of any questions about the service, email saving £120. The price cap level will be updated in the key benefits to which older people may be [email protected]. April and October every year to reflect the latest entitled – can only be claimed online, in four out of estimated costs of supplying electricity and gas, 10 councils. This means that older people without including wholesale energy costs. Northern Ireland has a separate energy regulator and already has a price cap. Available throughout the UK to VOLUNTEER Income tax in Wales VISITING BBC pensioners over age 70 From 6 April 2019, if you live in Wales, some of your SCHEME income tax will be paid to the Welsh government, which will be able to vary the rates of income tax paid Visitors are also by Welsh taxpayers. The National Assembly for Wales Visitors carry ID cards BBC pensioners has agreed the rates for 2019/20, which means there with them for your will be no overall change this year. security Probate changes Would you welcome In 2016 the government consulted on proposals to change fees charged for probate occasional contact with (which allows legal control over a deceased’s former colleagues? We can also offer estate) in England and Wales. In November 2018, support during draft legislation was laid before Parliament difficult times such as which would implement a banded structure of fees, based on the value of the estate, for a Over 2,000 pensioners bereavement grant of probate. already use the scheme At the moment, families pay a flat £215, or £155 Meet at home for a chat or if they apply through a solicitor, on estates over somewhere public like a £5,000. The threshold at which you’ll need to coffee shop EE S FF HO pay probate fees is set to be lifted to £50,000 O P C from April 2019 – according to the Ministry of Justice, this means an extra 25,000 estates per Operates from the year won’t pay any fees at all. But if the estate’s Pension and Benefits value is higher than this, you’ll see an increase in probate fees. Estates worth between £50,000 Centre and £300,000 will be charged £250, while the maximum charge is £6,000 for estates worth £2 million or more. Want to know more about what the VVS has to offer? The Ministry of Justice plans to publish guidance Call the pension service line on 029 2032 2811 or on ways to pay. email [email protected] 2 New Chair of the BBC Pension Scheme PROSPERO takes on future challenges Prospero is provided free of charge to retired Scheme In January, Catherine Claydon consistently positive feedback on its service level to members, or to their spouses and dependants. was appointed Chair of the members, and the communications with members are, Prospero provides a source of news on former BBC Pension Trust, replacing in my view, best in class in the industry. There is a colleagues, developments at the BBC and pension Bill Matthews who stepped strong focus amongst the Trustee Board on good issues, plus classified adverts. It is available online down in December 2017 after governance and a great deal of commitment across at bbc.co.uk/mypension seven years in the role. the organisation. I was particularly struck by the Volunteer Visiting Scheme, which involves pensioner To advertise in Prospero, please see page 12. Catherine was one of three members reaching out to other members for support professional Independent and company – what a wonderful project. Please send your editorial contributions, Trustees to join the Board last or comments/feedback, to: year following changes to its constitution. What are your/the Trustee Board’s main objective/ Prospero, BBC Pension and Benefits Centre, tasks for the next year? Prospero caught up with Catherine to find out a little Broadcasting House, Cardiff CF5 2YQ about her background, what her initial impressions are We will certainly have a full agenda for 2019. Email: [email protected] and the future challenges facing the Scheme. In addition to dealing with the volatile external market environment, the next triennial valuation will kick off Please make sure that any digital pictures you send What is your background and how did you come to at the end of March. We have a number of projects on are scanned at 300dpi. Please also note that the be a pension trustee? the investment front that are being moved forward, maximum word count for obituaries is 350 words. Prior to becoming a pension trustee, I had a 25-year and we continue to develop my Pension Online, career in the City, focusing on the financial markets. our online member service. Latterly, I was a Managing Director in the Pension The next time you hear from Catherine will probably Advisory Group at Goldman Sachs, developing be via the 2019 Summary Report, which is normally strategies for large pension funds to better manage Contents issued to members in the summer. their assets versus liabilities. In 2009, I moved from being a full-time banker to taking on a number of non-executive directorships, which included roles Pensions 2-3 linked to pension funds. Eileen Haughey What do you enjoy about being a pension trustee? Firstly, I find it very fulfilling to use the skills and joins the BBC knowledge I have built up over the years to help Letters 4-5 pension funds develop strategies to ensure their Trustee Board as an members’ benefits are secure. It is also fascinating and intellectually stimulating. All pension funds face independent Trustee a lot of uncertainty – for example, around what The BBC Pension Trust Ltd (‘the Trust’) announced Obituaries 6 long-term investment returns will be, how the specific the appointment of Eileen Haughey to the demographics of the membership will evolve over Trustee Board from 1 January 2019.