Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

Publications

For further details on the publications listed below or to purchase online, please click on the title or go to the CIPFA Shop.

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Local Government Pension Scheme Fund Accounts 2011/12: Example Accounts and Disclosure Checklist

In response to demand from practitioners, the range of CIPFA accounting publications has now been expanded to include this comprehensive guide to preparing Local Government Pension Fund accounts and will be an absolute must for finance practitioners in Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) administering authorities and external audit agencies and firms in England, Scotland and Wales. For further details and to order your copies please here.

CIPFA Pensions Panel Guide to Stock Lending by Local Authority Pension Funds (2011 Edition)

Much has changed since 2006 when the CIPFA Pensions Panel launched its last guide to stock lending. Now more commonly known as securities lending, it is generally accepted that this industry passed its stress test when Lehman Brothers collapsed, but vulnerabilities were revealed. CIPFA’s guidance has now been fully revised and brought up to date to reflect the learning and market and regulatory changes. For further details and to order your copies please click here.

CIPFA Pensions Panel Guide to Pension Fund Taxation in the United Kingdom CIPFA Pensions Panel Guide to Pension Fund Taxation in the United Kingdom

The world of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is constantly evolving. Managed effectively, tax can add value to pension funds. Conversely for the unwary, there are both domestic and non-UK tax compliance requirements which pension funds may need to manage. Consequently managing tax risks and keeping them under continual review is a key responsibility for each fund and the importance of specialist advice cannot be over-emphasised.

For further details and to order your copies please click here.

Code of Practice on Public Sector Pensions Finance Knowledge and Skills

In the final report of the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission, Lord Hutton recommended that “every public service pension scheme (and individual LGPS Fund) should have a properly constituted, trained and competent Pension Board”.

Therefore the case for a Code of Practice which embeds the requirements for the acquisition, retention and maintenance of appropriate knowledge and skills has never been stronger – and CIPFA has produced this Code to put these requirements into a formal structure for public sector pension schemes. Click here to view.

Buying Time: A CIPFA Pensions Panel Guide to Procuring Efficiency in Public Sector Pensions Administration (2011)

This report investigates the current public sector procurement framework as it applies to pension schemes, supplemented by some topical case studies that demonstrate the latest thinking in procurement and service delivery practice.

For further details and to order your copies please click here.

Pensions Finance Knowledge and Skills Framework – Interim Compliance Statement (2010)

CIPFA has prepared a compliance statement that public sector pension funds are encouraged to adopt; to demonstrate their approach to providing practitioners and members with the training and skills required to carry out their roles as the financial managers and decision-makers in this key area of public finance.

For further details and to order your copies please click here.

Narrative Reporting in Public Sector Pension Schemes (2010)

This report looks at the extent to which narrative reporting in public sector pension schemes helps to expand on the statutory financial reporting requirements by comparing and contrasting current narrative reporting practice and requirements across all of the main public sector pension schemes.

For further details and to order your copies please click here.

Pensions Finance Knowledge and Skills Framework (2010)

In recent years the level of skills, knowledge and experience expected of those responsible for decision making in public sector pensions has increased significantly.

This new guidance builds on the work that has already been done to improve the skills and knowledge base of those who serve on decision-making bodies – but it also recognises the importance of high quality advice to support them.

For further information and to order your copies click on the links below:

Technical Guidance for Elected Representatives and Non-Executives in the Public Sector

Technical Guidance for Public Sector Pensions Practitioners

Investment Decision Making and Disclosure in the Local Government Pension Scheme: A Guide to the Application of the Myners Principles (2009)

Since 2002 all Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds have been required to comment on their application and compliance with the ‘Myners principles’. Last year, following an extensive review of the principles conducted by the National Association of Pension Funds, the ten original principles were updated and consolidated into six new principles. 

This fully revised guide from CIPFA reflects the recent changes and supersedes the previous guidance issued in 2002. Developed in association with leading LGPS practitioners, the guidance once again comes with the full endorsement of the Department for Communities and Local Government and should enable all funds to continue to demonstrate the application of these best practice principles and maintain the highest possible standards of governance.

For further details and to order your copy visit the CIPFA shop.

Delivering Good Governance in Local Government Pension Funds: A Guide to the Application of the CIPFA/SOLACE Code of Corporate Governance in Local Authorities to their Management of LGPS Funds (2009)

Good governance in public services sets the framework within which public sector bodies can achieve and demonstrate good performance, sound management, the effective stewardship of public funds and, by extension, delivery against the expectationsplaced upon them.

The governance compliance statement that LGPS funds are required to produce forms part of the governance structure in local government and this guide aims to place this requirement in the context of the CIPFA/SOLACE publication Delivering Good Governance in Local Government: A Framework.

Further details about the guide can be found on the CIPFA shop.

Guidance for Chief Finance Officers Administering LGPS Actuarial Valuations Price (2008)

CIPFA, in association with Hymans Robertson, has issued guidance notes to conducting actuarial valuations and inter-valuation monitoring in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

The actuarial valuation is a periodic check on the financial health of the scheme. It tests whether the fund is on track to meet its funding strategy, as set out in its funding strategy statement, and sets the contributions that employers will have to pay into the fund for the next three years. Going forward, the actuarial valuation will also play a key role in the successful implementation of cost-sharing arrangements between employees and employers from the next round of actuarial valuations in 2010 or 2011.

Further details about the guide can be found on the CIPFA shop.

Local Government Pension Scheme: Pension Fund Decision Making – Guidance Notes (2006)

CIPFA's Pensions Panel has issued guidance notes on LGPS Pension Fund Decision Making. This guidance seeks to meet the need under the Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2005, which requires each Administering Authority to publish a governance policy statement. This guidance forms part of a framework on the investment and management of Local Government Pension Schemes that the panel will be considering over the next year.

Please click here to download the free guidance notes: PDF [43.6 KB]

The Local Government Pension Scheme: Pensions Guidance Notes

CIPFA's Pensions Panel has published a popular series of papers on matters relating to the administration of local authority pension funds. The series to date comprises:

[2] Guidance on the Management and Investment of Funds - Shareholder Responsibilities (1999)

[6] Guidance on Preparing and Maintaining a Funding Strategy Statement (2004) To download the supplementary guidance for this issue please click here.

[7] Freedom of Information Act - Dealing with Requests for Information Relating to Local Authority Pension Funds (2006)

[8] Guide to Stock Lending by Local Authority Pension Funds (2006)

[9] Weighing-up Risk Against Reward - An Introductory Guide to Asset-liability Studies for Local Government Pension Funds (2007)

Other Publications

LAAP Bulletin 51 - Joint Pensions Panel/LAAP Bulletin - Guidance on the Application of the new disclosure note for pensions costs in the 2000 SORP (March 2001)