Scheme member data quality

Defining scheme member data

Scheme member data comprises:

• common data: information that is needed to uniquely identify and engage with a member
• scheme-specific data: information about the member’s participation in the scheme which is key for its effective operation

Both sets of data are equally important. You must work with your administrator to decide what data items are relevant for your scheme under each category, regularly reviewing them to ensure they meet your scheme’s needs.  

Common data

Common data is information needed to uniquely identify and engage with a member.

Good common data is essential to effectively communicate with the right members when needed and, in conjunction with scheme-specific data, to accurately calculate and pay members’ benefits. All schemes should hold this data for all members.

Common data consists of the following data items.

Common data item	Why this data item is needed
Name: Surname Forename or initials	Identification
Date of birth	Identification Calculation of benefits
National Insurance number	Identification
Member’s scheme identification number Only if there is one	Identification
Sex Only if the scheme requires this information as per scheme rules or legal requirements	Calculation of benefit, in line with any sex-related scheme-specific rules or legal obligations, for example, earlier retirement dates, guaranteed minimum pension equalisation (GMP), Equality Act 2010 etc.
Date pensionable service started; membership/policy start date or first contribution date	Calculation of defined benefits Assisting validation with other data, for example, when members make claims related to their benefits or where a data issue which applies to specific members is identified Must be provided in line with the pensions dashboards requirements
Expected retirement/maturity date (target retirement age) For pensioners, this is their actual pension commenced date (crystallisation date)	Calculation of benefits Facilitate targeted member communications  Must be provided in line with the pensions dashboards
Membership status Active, deferred or pensioner	Helps identify scheme-specific data items for different member categories Enables targeted member communications  Determines members in scope for pensions dashboards
Last status event – the date at which the membership status last changed Where appropriate, you should also capture the reason for the change in status (for example, retired or left employment)	Calculation of benefits Assisting identification Supporting validation with other data
Member contact details At least one set of the following contact details should be kept on record: Personal address including postcode Personal telephone number (landline/mobile) Personal email address	Communication with members Identification – including matching for pensions dashboards

For public service pensions schemes (PSPS), there are certain data items that scheme managers are legally required to keep. These are set out in the section called legal requirements PSPS. 

Scheme-specific data

Scheme-specific data is information about members’ participation in a scheme which is key for its effective operation and ensures members have good outcomes and experience. The data you need will depend on the:

• nature of the benefits provided
• member status
• applicable legislation to your scheme
• strategic goals

For example, you may need more data if you are preparing for consolidation or if your scheme has complex benefit structures.

You should work with your administrator to assess and decide which data items are essential to the operation of the scheme and why these are critical. You should also be clear as to why other data is not considered essential.

Some of the scheme-specific data items you need to include will not be relevant for all members. Where this is the case, you may want to group your members by type and define your scheme-specific data accordingly. Taking this action may also assist you in identifying and resolving data issues that apply to specific groups of your membership.

As a minimum, the scheme-specific data items need to cover the following scheme functions.

Calculating pension values

Your scheme-specific data should include the data items you need to accurately calculate the pension values for your members. The data required to calculate values will vary depending on the type of scheme, the complexity of the benefits, and members’ statuses.

More complex benefit scenarios may require additional scheme-specific data items to ensure accurate calculation, such as:

• discretionary benefits, whether and to what extent any discretionary benefits are included within the benefits to be valued
• special cases, for example, non-standard pension age, salary differences, divorces, bridging pensions, underpins
• cash transfer sum (early leavers only)
• whether members have any special benefit under the scheme, such as injury benefit, death benefit or other compensation benefits

Processing member queries and events

The scheme-specific data items, that are combined with common data, to enable you to respond to member queries effectively, include, but are not limited to:

• decumulation requests, such as flexible benefit access, queries around relevant tax allowances (for example, annual allowance, lump sum allowance), queries on contingent/dependent benefits
• members’ choices on retirement options
• member events, such as injury, divorce, changes to part-time hours, retirement, death

Other scheme-specific events or features

Your scheme may have been subject to events or have specific features which require you to include additional data items within your scheme-specific data, such as:

• contracting out
• changes to scheme rules
• providing the option to build up an additional pension or a pot through additional voluntary contributions
• remediation exercises, for example, McCloud, GMP equalisation
• scheme within a buy-in or buy-out process

The data items that are legally required for PSPS to keep can help you identify your scheme-specific data. You can find the details of these data items in the table called Legal requirements for PSPS.

The PASA Data Scoring Guidance can also help you identify your scheme-specific data and provides further practical considerations around scheme-specific data.

Legal requirements for public service pension schemes

There are legal requirements for PSPS. The data items and what needs to be included for each item are as follows.

Member and beneficiary information:

• name
• date of birth
• sex
• member's last known postal address
• member’s scheme identification number
• member’s National Insurance number (if they have one)
• dates that active, deferred and pensioner members join and leave the scheme
• details of active, deferred and pensioner members’ employment with any employer participating in the scheme, including the period of pensionable service and the amount of pensionable earnings each year

Contributions details (member, employer or other payee):

• employer or member contributions paid in relation to each active member
• any information relevant to calculating each member’s rights under the scheme which is directly or indirectly attributable to a pension credit or debit

Payment to members:

• member’s name
• date of payment
• if a member leaves the scheme:
  • Date of leaving
  • Member’s entitlement at that date
  • Method used for calculating any entitlement under the scheme
• how that entitlement was discharged

Payments or transfers made by or on behalf of the scheme manager to any person other than the member:

• name and address of the person that the payment or transfer was made to
• reason for the payment or transaction

Transfer records:

• member’s name
• transfer terms
• name of the scheme into or out of which the member has been transferred
• transfer date
• date of receipt or payment of money or assets

For money purchase benefits:

• any investment decisions taken by or relating to a member
• any investments held on behalf of a member
• any anticipated date of retirement notified by a member

For other benefits that aren’t money purchase benefits, injury benefits or compensation benefits under the scheme:

• any formula used to calculate a member’s or beneficiary’s pension or benefit
• the percentage to be applied for revaluation each year to a member’s accrued rights to benefits under the scheme
• any increase to be applied to a pensioner member’s or beneficiary’s pension or benefit in payment in each year

Online learning

• Trustee toolkit: the 'Running a scheme' module contains a tutorial on 'Scheme administration and member data'.
• Public service toolkit: learn more about keeping and maintaining records in the 'Maintaining accurate member data' course.