July 2003 / ELIGIBLE COUNCILLOR / PENCOUNCILLOR MEMBER
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME
NORTH YORKSHIRE PENSION FUND
ADMINISTERED BY NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
STARTER FORM – ELIGIBLE COUNCILLOR /

Please refer to the guidance notes on the back page whilst completing this form.

1. YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS
Surname : / First name(s) / Title:
Marital Status: / Maiden Name: / National Insurance No:
Address :
Post Code: / Email address:
Date of Birth:* / / / / Spouse’s date of birth:* / / / / Date of Divorce:* / / /
Authority & Committee(s):
Employee Reference: (from payslip)
* If you are joining the pension scheme please attach a photocopy of your birth certificate. If you are married also attach a copy of your marriage certificate and spouse’s birth certificate. If you are divorced attach a copy of the Decree Absolute
2. PLEASE TICK ONE BOX TO TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO DO
I wish to join the Local Government Pension Scheme.
If you wish to join please continue and complete all sections of the form.
I do not wish to join the Local Government Pension Scheme
If you do not wish to join please do not continue to Section 3. Just sign and date Section 2 and return this form to the appropriate contact at your Council immediately.
Please now sign and date this section.
Signed: / Date:
3. HAVE YOU PREVIOUSLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE LGPS AS A COUNCILLOR MEMBER, PAYING INTO THE NORTH YORKSHIRE PENSION FUND?
Please tick
No /  Proceed to Section 4
Yes /  Please give the details below
NB: We only require details of any previous membership of the North Yorkshire Pension Fund as a Councillor member.
Name of Authority
& Committee(s) / Period of scheme membership / Were Contributions
Refunded?
From / To
Yes/ No
Yes/ No
Yes/ No
4. DO YOU WANT TO NOMINATE SOMEONE TO RECEIVE YOUR DEATH GRANT?
From the very first day of joining the North Yorkshire Pension Fund you are covered for a death grant of 2 times your career average pay should you die in service as a member of the LGPS.
The Scheme rules allow you to nominate or choose the person or people you want to receive that death grant should you die before you reach retirement or very soon after retiring.
Completing the section below will assist the North Yorkshire Pension Fund in distributing the death grant.
In the event of my death I wish North Yorkshire Pension Fund to consider paying any lump
sum death grant to:-
Name / Address / Relationship / Proportion %
The proportion must add up to: / 100%
Signed: / Date:
To avoid inheritance tax on your death the North Yorkshire Pension Fund must retain absolute discretion about who the death grant is paid to.
The North Yorkshire Pension Fund will use your nomination as a guide to your wishes.
Your nomination will be registered in your pension records.* (see attached guidance notes)
If you wish to change your nomination in the future please contact the North Yorkshire Pension Fund.

PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO THE APPROPRIATE CONTACT AT YOUR COUNCIL

REMEMBER: If you are joining the North Yorkshire Pension Fund please attach a photocopy of your birth certificate and if you are married also attach a copy of your marriage certificate and spouses birth certificate.
GUIDANCE NOTES- STARTER FORM – ELIGIBLE COUNCILLOR
PLEASE RETAIN FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
What happens next?
On receiving the Starter Form you should complete and return it promptly to the appropriate contact at your council.
Joining the Pension Scheme
To secure your entitlement to the Scheme benefits it is important that you complete and return the joining form if you wish to opt into membership of the Scheme. On receipt of your form, relevant records will be set up and the Pensions Section will send an official notification of your membership of the Scheme to you within two months of your joining. If you do not hear from the Pensions Section please contact the appropriate person at your council to make sure that your Starter Form has been forwarded to the Pensions Section. In addition, you should check your allowance payments to ensure that pension contributions are being deducted.
Not joining the Pension Scheme
If you elect not to join the North Yorkshire Pension Fund you must complete and return your Starter Form to the appropriate person at your council.
Section 1 / Your personal details are very important to us as your benefits are affected by the information you provide. Please take your time completing this section and please provide us with your certificates.
This will ensure that any future actions, such as payment of benefits can be completed without delay.
Section 2 /
What are my Pension Options
As well as joining the North Yorkshire Pension Fund there are a variety of other ways for you to save towards your retirement.
These include Personal Pensions, Stakeholder Pensions, the State Second Pension (S2P) and private savings.
If you are unsure that joining the North Yorkshire Pension Fund is your best option please contact an Independent Financial Advisor for impartial financial advice.
What if I have a Personal Pension?
If you have a Personal Pension you must contact your Personal Pension Provider or your Independent Financial Advisor to find out how joining the North Yorkshire Pension Fund will affect your Personal Pension.
Section 3 / You are required to provide us with details of any previous LGPS membership as a councillor member paying into the North Yorkshire Pension Fund. This is especially important as it may impact on your benefits with us.
Section 4 / If you have elected to join the North Yorkshire Pension Fund, there is a death grant payable of 2 times your career average pay if you die in service as a member of the LGPS.
Unless:-
You are paying additional voluntary contributions through the in house scheme. This may lead to a death grant of up to four years’ pensionable pay.
Why do I need to nominate someone?
The advantages in nominating someone to receive the death grant are that the payments can be made quickly without waiting for the estate to be settled. Also a nomination usually means that no inheritance tax needs to be paid.
You should note however, in order to avoid inheritance tax the scheme administrator has complete discretion over who receives the payment. This means in theory we do not have to pay the death grant to the named person. However, this would only happen in very unusual circumstances, and in the majority of cases your wishes would be carried out on your death.

Changing the nomination

Your nomination can be changed at any time, by completing a new form.
If the person due to receive the grant dies or if you have listed more than one person and one of them dies you will need to complete a new form to nominate new beneficiaries.
If you have nominated a spouse and you subsequently become divorced the nomination will no longer stand and you will need to complete a new form to nominate a new beneficiary.
If you wish to change your nomination in the future please contact the North Yorkshire Pension Fund.
At: Pensions Section
Central Finance Service Unit
County Hall
Northallerton
North Yorkshire
DL7 8AL
*Should you wish the information regarding your nominated beneficiaries to be kept separate and confidential from pension records until your death, please contact the Pensions Section. They will provide you with a separate nomination form to complete. You must then complete this form and return it in a sealed envelope clearly labelled as follows:-
Nomination Form - Strictly Private and Confidential - Only to be opened in the event of the death of:
Name: Date of birth: National Insurance Number:
DATA PROTECTION
By completing this document you give North Yorkshire County Council the authority to collect and retain information about you in relation to pensionable service. The information collected about you will depend on the nature of your relationship with the County Council, and may in some instances include sensitive personal information. However, if the Pensions Section required sight of such sensitive data you would be contacted first to obtain your explicit consent to view this information. Under certain circumstances the County Council may check the accuracy of information; provided by you, or information provided about you by public bodies with other information held by the County Council. The information you provide may also be shared with other agencies involved in the provision of services between you and the directorates of the County Council. In this instance those involved in providing that service are, the Actuary to the Pension Fund, the Legal Advisor to the Pension Fund and your Employer. We may also share information with Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) Providers and administrators of other pension arrangements where you have previously consented to the disclosure.
North Yorkshire County Council may also obtain or disclose information about you from certain public bodies, in order to check the accuracy of the information; prevent or detect crime; or protect public funds in other ways, as permitted by law. These public bodies include other local authorities and government departments including the Audit Commission's National Fraud Initiative, the Inland Revenue and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). North Yorkshire County Council will not disclose information about you unless the law permits, or you have consented to the disclosure.
North Yorkshire County Council is the Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. If you want to know more about the information the County Council holds about you, or the way the County Council uses that information please contact the Data Management Officer, County Hall, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL7 8AL.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE ALSO RECEIVED A COPY OF ‘A GUIDE TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME FOR ELIGIBLE COUNCILLORS IN ENGLAND’. IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED A COPY YOU SHOULD CONTACT THE APPROPRIATE PERSON AT YOUR COUNCIL.