You can use this form to notify us of the details of an occupational pension scheme or section of a scheme. You can also use it to provide the additional information we need to decide whether or not a scheme is a qualifying pension scheme. Before completing this form, please check the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) scheme lists on this site. They contain details of schemes of which FAS has been notified. It also tells you whether or not the schemes are qualifying pension schemes.

Use of Residual Assets

(updated June 2010)

Some FAS qualifying schemes which have wound up have been left with residual assets after initially discharging members’ liabilities. If there are residual assets in the scheme but you do not think that it would be cost effective to divide residual assets amongst members then you may consider applying to the FAS scheme manager to transfer these assets to the Secretary of State.

Application to Transfer Residual Assets

Trustee Good Practice Guide - Financial Assistance Scheme   

(updated April 2010)

Welcome to our guide for all trustees of pension schemes that have qualified for the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) and are in the process of winding-up.

This guide, along with the Pensions Regulator’s Trustee Toolkit is designed to help you progress the wind-up of your FAS scheme(s) effectively and efficiently. It will also help you, as a trustee, to understand:

• your roles and responsibilities during the wind-up of a qualifying FAS scheme;
• the roles and responsibilities of the PPF’s designated caseworker, who will help you through the process; and
• the PPF’s reporting requirements - the importance of regular reporting during the wind-up process
• the wind-up process - understanding the tasks which need to be completed prior to the valuation; and
• the valuation process - general outline of the valuation process for FAS schemes transferring assets to government.
  

Our key values include teamwork and partnership. We are committed to supporting trustees and their advisors through what is a complex and demanding process. By working in partnership with you we hope to achieve our objectives of enabling the FAS scheme manager to discharge trustees of their scheme responsibilities, and of transferring scheme assets and full scheme data into FAS, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

This guidance will continue to evolve as experience is gained and Regulations are set. We will however be working with you to keep you informed of these updates as and when they happen.

FAS S1 Form

In order for us to determine the eligibility of members, survivors and dependants and the amount of their assistance (where appropriate), please complete the details on the S1 form. The form should be completed in accordance with the FAS S1 Guidance and other S1 tools available below.

A new version of the FAS application form S1 has been introduced to take account of changes in the information required to calculate FAS assistance - including changes for the GMP underpin approach and the change in inflation measure to CPI, and to reflect the closure of the York office.

A release note has been issued to schemes that itemises the changes in more detail.

FAS S1 Analyser

Following on from the changes to the S1, an S1 analyser has been produced to aid data providers with ensuring data is fit for submission to the FAS. Please click on the heading to access.

The analyser is an Excel spreadsheet and requires Excel 2002 or 2003 as a minimum. The analyser's purpose is to review the member data providers are looking to submit to the FAS with the intention of helping to improve data quality and, as a consequence, reduce the amount of possible rework being required. It should be noted that the analyser itself cannot account for the individual complexities of every scheme, and as such makes certain assumptions in respect to the data. It is therefore imperative that you read the S1 Validation Tools User Guide. 
 
It must be stressed that the analyser output will only provide a starting point in respect to whether data is fit for submission and will require data providers to review the output and make any necessary changes needed or include any appropriate explanations to the S1.

This is a tool that can check and fix formatting issues. It will automatically cleanse/fix the spreadsheet to avoid misleading errors when apparently blank cells contain non-visible characters. It will also allow users to delete any surplus blank rows, and can export data to an up–to-date S1 template; this is useful where data is currently held on an old version of the S1.

If the Format Checker is fully utilised prior to using the Analyser, the number of errors produced by the Analyser should be reduced.

Guidance on Security of Personal Data

(issued January 2010)

Security of personal data is a key issue and we are required to comply with current government security guidelines to ensure we maintain the highest levels of control over storing and handling the data we are responsible for.

We recognise that in exchanging large amounts of personal data, we need to ensure appropriate controls are in operation.

We have been reviewing our security arrangements and our conclusion is the process already in place, on the whole, provides a secure structure. However, we have made a few amendments to the process to further strengthen data security and reduce the risk of loss.

Application for Approval to Purchase Annuities

Trustees of qualifying FAS schemes should use this form to apply for approval to purchase annuities under the provisions of regulation 2(1)(b) of The Financial Assistance Scheme (Halting Annuitisation) Regulations 2007.

Guidance on ensuring data is equalised in respect of GMPs

DWP has provided guidance on the provision of information in respect of GMPs for FAS, this can be found at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/fas-guidance-to-ensure-payments-equalised-basis.pdf . This guidance is consistent with the approach we have recently published in to relation the January 2011 consultation on calculation of FAS assistance for the effect of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs). These FAQ’s provide information on the consultation and our response. The full response and technical statement can be found on our GMP technical page.