Lothian Pension Fund participates in a data sharing project with other LGPS pension funds in England, Wales and Scotland. This is undertaken to comply with legal requirements contained in the LGPS’s governing regulations.
The Scheme regulations state if a member dies, we need to know if they had any other LGPS membership elsewhere in the country. This is so the right death benefits can be calculated and paid to the deceased member’s dependants. We therefore use a national LGPS database to check if a member has another LGPS pension record held with other pension funds.
For each member of the LGPS, the Database contains a short entry containing:
The database is hosted at the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, an LGPS pension fund.
The data held on the database will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, GDPR when this legislation comes into force, and any other relevant legislation.
An extract of the membership information contained in the database will periodically be shared with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that the LGPS can join the Tell Us Once service. Tell Us Once is a service offered in most parts of the country when an individual registers a death. When the LGPS joins Tell Us Once and the death of an LGPS member is registered, the DWP systems will ensure that the LGPS pension fund is informed of the death, meaning that the member’s records can be processed more quickly and simply than would otherwise be the case.
Other LGPS pension funds. These are all public bodies named in legislation as administering authorities of the LGPS.
For the Tell Us Once service, an extract of the Database containing individuals’ NI Numbers will be securely shared with DWP every month so they can maintain an up-to-date record of the LGPS’s membership.
For as long as:
a) the relevant regulatory requirements remain
b) the LGPS participates in the Tell Us Once service.
In the event that neither of the above apply, the data sharing will cease to be undertaken.
No. As this data sharing is partly being undertaken to comply with a legal requirement, it is not possible for scheme members to opt out of the data sharing.
To find out more about this data sharing or if you have any questions, please contact us.