Capita awarded contract by The Pensions Regulator
The Pensions Regulator has awarded Capita a 7-year contract to deliver employer
education for automatic enrolment
The Capita Group Plc (Capita) has signed a contract with The Pensions Regulator
to support its direct communications with employers for automatic enrolment of
staff into workplace pension schemes which will be phased in from October 2012.
The seven-year contract has an option for the regulator to extend it for a
further three years and has an estimated value of £105 million. The contract
will commence from October 2011.
The new requirements for employers to automatically enrol staff into workplace
pensions will be introduced gradually, on a `staged' basis from October 2012 to
September 2016, depending on employer size. The Pensions Regulator will
communicate with over 1 million employers as part of its role to maximise
compliance with automatic enrolment. Under its agreement, Capita will take on
the responsibility for delivering high-volume employer communications and
transactional processes in relation to the new requirements; these include:
* Distributing campaign messages to employers, intermediaries and advisers
* Notifying employers 12 and 3 months ahead of their automatic enrolment duty
dates
* Managing the process whereby employers register with the regulator
* Operating a customer contact centre
* Limited enforcement activities including administering compliance notices
and, where non-compliance persists, fixed penalties. More complex
enforcement activity, strategic communications decisions, and compliance
and enforcement policies remain under the control of the regulator.
Chief Executive of The Pensions Regulator Bill Galvin said:
"Helping more than 1m employers to get ready for automatic enrolment over the
next five years is a major challenge. We will provide high-quality information
to every employer in the country, making it as simple as possible to comply.
"Working with Capita will enable us to make a rapid transition to providing
information to tens of thousands of small and micro businesses each month - as
well as supporting them by dealing with their calls and questions - whilst
continuing to focus on our role regulating the pensions industry."
Paul Pindar, Chief Executive of Capita commented:
"We are delighted to support The Pensions Regulator to prepare employers for
the new requirements to automatically enrol staff into a workplace pension
scheme.
"Capita is positioned well with the resources and expertise in delivering
complex and high-volume communications to support this major project. Our focus
will be on making sure the information, technology and the process for
automatic enrolment is clear and simple to assist employers to comply by their
duty date."
-Ends-
For further information
The Capita Group Plc: Tel: 020 7799 1525
Paul Pindar, Chief Executive
Shona Nichols, Corporate Communications Director
Capita press office: Tel: 0207 654 2152 (or 020 7654 2399 out of hours)
The Pensions Regulator press office: Tel: 01273 627208 (or 01273 648496 out of
hours)
Notes to Editors
1. The Capita Group Plc is the UK's leading provider of business process
outsourcing and integrated professional support service solutions. With
approximately 45,000 people at more than 350 sites, including 64 business
centres across the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, Continental Europe and
India, the Group uses its expertise, infrastructure and scale benefits to
transform its clients' services, driving down costs and adding value.
Capita is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (CPI.L), and is a constituent
of the FTSE100 with revenues for 2010 of £2,744 million. Further information on
Capita can be found at www.capita.co.uk.
2. The Pensions Regulator is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in
the UK, with objectives to protect members' benefits, promote good
administration and reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund.
3. In the 2008 Pensions Act, and corresponding Northern Ireland legislation,
The Pensions Regulator was given a new statutory objective to maximise
compliance with employer duties (including the requirement to automatically
enrol eligible employees into a qualifying pension provision and pay a
minimum contribution) and with certain employment safeguards.
4. Between October 2012 and September 2016 employers will be required to
automatically enrol all their eligible jobholders into a qualifying pension
scheme and make a minimum contribution of a jobholder's qualifying earnings
into the scheme (this contribution will be increased in phases).
5. An eligible jobholder who reaches 22 and who has not reached pensionable
age must be automatically enrolled in a qualifying scheme by the employer.
Qualifying schemes are pension schemes that satisfy the quality criteria
prescribed in the Pensions Act 2008. The criteria establish a minimum
standard for the level of contributions made to the scheme or the level of
benefit provided.
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