South West Region Police Pensions Board

The South West Region Police Pensions Board assists the scheme managers for Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire constabularies.

For efficiency purposes, the five forces in the South West collaborate on the South West Region Police Pensions Board – with a common Independent Chair appointed.

This arrangement is permitted under the Pension Schemes Act 2015 and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and includes wide representation from stakeholders.

Governance and administration

The TPR oversees and regulates the governance and administration of public-service pension schemes in the UK.

Public-sector pension schemes must be governed and administered as public-service pension schemes under the public-service Pension Schemes Act 2015.

The Chief Constable is the ‘scheme manager’ of the Police Pension Fund for Devon and Cornwall Police and is required to manage and administer it – with the exception of their own pension.

The Police and Crime Commissioner will be ‘scheme manager’ for matters relating to the Chief Constable’s pension as well as any deliberations/decisions on pension forfeiture.

The Pension Board is responsible for assisting the scheme manager in securing compliance with regulations and other matters.

Scheme managers

Scheme managers and pension board members must comply with a number of legal requirements.

Each public-service scheme has scheme regulations which set out details of the membership and benefits to be provided under the scheme.

They also identify scheme managers, and provide for pension boards and scheme advisory boards to be established. The regulations form the scheme rules.

The Police Pension Scheme 2015 sets out the statutory arrangements both at a national and local level to comply with the new legislation and manage the old and new pension schemes.

The Police Advisory Board for England and Wales serves as the national police pension scheme advisory board.

The scheme administrator keeps records, collects contributions and pays benefits to members.

Each force has their own arrangements – in all five forces this function is fulfilled externally, by a third party under the contract.

Related documents

• Terms of reference (PDF)
• Annual Report 2018 (PDF)
• February 2019 minutes (PDF)