The University of Sheffield
Finance

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS)

These pages provide information for University staff about the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). This scheme is open to eligible staff on Grade 6 or above.

If you are already a member of this Scheme, or you wish to join, you’ll find further information on the USS website.

 

USS Update – 15 February 2012

The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) has agreed to suspend its campaign of industrial action in relation to changes to USS.

UCU has been conducting a campaign of continuous action short of a strike at Sheffield and 66 other Universities, by calling on members to work to contract since October 2011. At a recent conference of UCU branches, it was agreed to suspend the ASOS with effect from 15 February to facilitate discussions with the HE employers through the USS Finance and Benefits Working Group established to consider and review the financial position of USS in light of the outcome of the 2011 valuation.

Changes to USS were implemented in October 2011 following an extensive period of consultation. New members of USS have since been joining the Career Re-valued Earnings Section of the scheme, with existing members remaining in the Final Salary Section in return for higher member contributions.

Where they were participating in the industrial action, UCU members will therefore be expected to resume their normal working arrangements with immediate effect. The suspension of action will be reviewed by UCU in June 2012 to consider progress made towards an agreement with HE employers. It is hoped that the progress made will result in a further suspension, or removal, of the threat of industrial action by UCU.

 

USS Update – 1 November 2011

The USS Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) comprising members from the Employers’ Pension Forum, representing the participating employers, and UCU, met on 27 October. An agreement was reached between the parties to establish a working group to review the financial position of the scheme in light of the outcome of the 2011 valuation (and future valuations) and consider the need for any possible future changes. Terms of reference for this group have been agreed and the group is due to meet in November 2011. It has been made clear by the employers that the aim of the group is to consider the longer term position of the scheme.

UCU has agreed not to escalate the current action while the working group starts work. However UCU are still planning for members to take strike action on 30 November alongside public sector unions which are planning a nationwide day of action over public sector pension reforms.

Since 10 October UCU members have been called to take action short of a strike in the form of “working to contract” at the University of Sheffield, and at a further 66 universities, over the changes to USS. These changes have now been implemented and existing members will have seen an increase in their pension contributions in their October pay. Further information on this action and the implications of it can be found on the HR webpages.

USS is also consulting with participating employers on the 2011 valuation outcomes. These are detailed technical consultations relating to matters such as the assumptions being used to determine future liabilities within the scheme and the future investment strategy of USS. It is apparent however that USS is likely to report a funding deficit as at 31 March 2011 of around £2.9bn. This is likely to have an impact on the scheme in the future as a recovery plan will be required by the Pensions Regulator which may result in an increase in employer and employee contributions to the scheme.

Representatives from USS will be attending the University to present an overview of the changes to USS to members of the scheme on Thursday 10 November at 11.00am in Lecture Theatre 3 at the Medical School (Beech Hill Road).

 

USS Update – 7 October 2011

The collectively agreed changes to USS were implemented with effect from 1 October 2011. Members will soon be receiving further detailed information about the changes, and representatives from USS will be giving a presentation to members in early November. More details will follow about the presentation.

Current members will retain their final salary benefits and members will see their contributions to USS increase from 6.35% to 7.5% of pensionable pay in their October 2011 payslip. New joiners to USS will accrue benefits on a Career Revalued Benefits basis and will contribute 6.5% of pensionable pay.

UCU have called on their members to take action over these changes in the form of working to contract. Further information on this action, and the implications of it can be found on the HR webpages.
 

USS Update – 15 September 2011

The UCU ballot in relation to changes to USS which has been running throughout the summer closed yesterday. The outcome of the ballot was a vote in favour of strike action and action short of a strike. Around 42% of the total UCU membership voted, with 58% voting in favour of strike action (25% of UCU membership) and 77% voting in favour of action short of a strike (32% of UCU membership). UCU have posted the results to the ballot on an aggregated basis, combining all votes posted nationally into one overall result, rather than providing an institution by institution breakdown of votes cast within each University.

Although no formal notification of the nature and timing of any potential future action has been received, the University understands that UCU are planning to co-ordinate their action potentially as early as mid-October, and there is a chance that UCU may wish to take action alongside public sector unions who voted at this week’s TUC conference in favour of strike action over public sector pension reforms, most likely in November.

The University is committed to ensuring that the impact of any industrial action is minimised, particularly in relation to the student experience. Work will be taking place to plan for and respond to any action that is taken by UCU. More information will be provided as soon as it is known.

Meanwhile, the changes agreed by the USS Board are due to be implemented from 1 October 2011, and members of USS will see changes to their contribution levels in their October pay, with new members after 1 October joining USS in the Career Average Re-valued Earnings section.

 

USS Update – 20 June 2011

The USS Board met on 10 June 2011 to agree the changes to USS as put forward by the Joint Negotiating Committee. The Board also agreed the effective date for the changes as 1 October 2011.

A summary of the main changes can be found in the Downloads section to the right of this page. A copy of this summary will be enclosed with annual service statements, which will be distributed in the near future.

The University has also been notified by UCU of their intention to ballot their members on industrial action in response to the agreed changes to USS. The ballot will open on 20 June 2011 and will remain open throughout the summer until 14 September 2011. Further information on the outcome of the UCU ballot will be updated when it is known.

 

USS Update – 12 May 2011

The USS Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) met on 10 May 2011 with UCU members attending for the first time since January 2011 and was able to make a decision in relation to the changes to USS.

At the meeting the UCU members presented their alternative scheme changes for consideration alongside the set of proposals from the USS Trustee Board. The Independent Chair, Sir Andrew Cubie, used his casting vote to record the JNC decision in favour of the proposals from the USS Trustee Board.

The Employer’s Pension Forum (EPF) representing the University employers, said “Yesterday’s outcome follows nearly three years of intense negotiations, discussions, consultations and decision making in the appropriate USS decision making process. These moderate changes will enable USS to remain sustainable, attractive and affordable for all: employers and members, current and future.”

It is understood that the agreed changes will now go back to the USS Trustee Board in early June and that a new implementation timetable for the changes will be announced shortly.

UCU have informed members that they intend to ballot for further industrial action in response to the changes. No timetable has been indicated for any ballot at this stage.

 

USS Changes - Update 28 April 2011

In a letter to the Vice Chancellor earlier this month the UCU outlined the possibility of further industrial action should the dispute over the proposed changes to USS not be resolved.

The Employers Pensions Forum have advised the University that the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) of USS is the appropriate forum in which outstanding issues should be discussed and resolved.  Since January 2011, the JNC has not been able to reach a decision on the proposals due to the UCU representatives not attending the meetings.

The employer representatives on the JNC have indicated that they are willing to consider and respond to any costed proposals made by UCU.

USS has recently deferred the next meeting of the JNC until 10 May so that UCU can prepare proposals for consideration.  It is hoped that the UCU representatives will return to the committee so that normal USS processes can resume.

Sir Andrew Cubie, the independent Chairman of the JNC recently said: “I am content with the arrangements to re-schedule the meeting of the JNC to 10 May 2011, and I would urge the UCU representatives to attend.  I am also content that in re-scheduling the meeting UCU has been given a further opportunity to bring forward its alternative proposals, and I would confirm that no-one should presume to know how I might exercise my vote if and when any particular proposition is put to the committee”.

 

USS Changes – Update April 2011

Following consultation in late 2010 the proposed changes to USS have not been agreed by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) due to the UCU members failing to attend the meetings. UCU have also taken strike action at a number of universities recently relating to the proposed changes to USS.

USS are currently exploring alternative ways of implementing the changes and have sought legal advice on the matter.

The Employer’s Pension Forum, representing the Higher Education employers, have released a briefing note about the proposed changes to USS. This can be found in the download section to the right of this page.

Further background information is also available on this page and via the links to the right.

 

USS Changes – Update March 2011

Following the end of consultation in December 2010, the USS Board of Trustees met in January 2011 to consider the responses made to the consultation and put forward some suggested modifications to the proposals.

The specific areas which the Board has suggested are reviewed relate to (i) extending the rejoining period for members who leave the final salary section and subsequently rejoin the scheme from 6 months to two and a half years and (ii) increasing the proposed caps on inflationary increases.

Under the USS decision-making processes, these modifications need to be formally agreed by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) which comprises an equal number of representatives from the employers and UCU (representing USS members) and an independent Chair, Sir Andrew Cubie. The JNC’s role is to approve the rule amendments necessary to implement the agreed changes subject to final endorsement by the USS board.

The JNC was due to meet on a number of occasions since January 2011, most recently on 9 March, but each time the meeting has been inquorate due to the UCU members choosing not to attend.

Following its failure to attend the last JNC meeting, UCU is now seeking to reopen negotiations with the employers on the proposals and has asked ACAS to intervene. The Employers' Pension Forum (EPF), representing the University employers, believe that it would not be appropriate to reopen formal negotiations involving ACAS on changes that have been under discussion for almost three years and were approved by the JNC in July last year, before going out to consultation in October to December 2010

The EPF, has expressed its disappointment at the frustration of the decision-making machinery by UCU following negotiations and consultation.

The EPF Chair, Professor Brian Cantor said: “An enormous amount of work has gone into the development of this package of reforms with representatives from EPF, UCU and the USS Trustee Board playing pivotal roles in finalising moderate changes of benefit to all. These changes were approved by the JNC in July 2010, and then by the USS Trustee Board, both of which involved full UCU representation. Since then UCU has repeatedly failed to engage in the established process for agreeing scheme changes. The union is ignoring the past three years’ of negotiations and seeking to overturn the decisions of the USS Trustee Board, the JNC and the Independent Chair by not exercising its shared stewardship.”

As a result of the UCU's actions, the implementation of the changes has been postponed from 1 April 2011. A subsequent date has not yet been named for implementation.

In addition to the disruption outlined above, it is understood that UCU is planning strike action across the country. This follows a recent ballot in which 223 UCU members at the University of Sheffield voted for strike action in respect of the changes to USS. This represents around 21% of the total UCU membership at the University, and around 5% of the total number of staff at the University consulted about the changes to USS.

Information relating to the proposed strike action, and details of the University's approach to dealing with it can be found at www.shef.ac.uk/hr/aboutus/news/stories/ucu.html

 

USS Consultation

USS members and eligible staff were consulted on a package of proposals in late 2010. In summary the proposals were to:

 

Background Information

A USS Joint Review Group (JRG) was established at the end of 2008 to undertake a review to determine what changes should be made to USS to ensure that it remains an attractive and affordable defined benefit pension scheme, and one that will continue to be an integral part of the remuneration package to help recruit and retain high quality staff for Higher Education on an ongoing, sustainable basis. The Joint Review Group is made up of representatives from the Employer’s Pensions Forum (EPF) and the University and College Union (UCU).

Following a series of meetings of the JRG through 2009 and 2010, the employers submitted their proposals for changes to USS to the Joint Negotiating Committee at the end of April 2010. These proposals can be accessed directly from the EPF website.

The downloads to the right of this page provide information on:

The proposals were accepted by the USS Trustee Board on 22 July 2010. The proposals went out to consultation with members and eligible staff in late 2010 and responses were considered by the USS Board of Trustees on 20 January 2011.

 

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Who to contact
If you have any queries then please contact the pensions team.

Postal Address: Pension Office, Department of Finance, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN

Location Address: Pension Office, Finance Department, 10 - 12 Brunswick Street, Sheffield, S10 2FN