This guidance is addressed to Cabinet Office as scheme manager of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS or 'scheme').

The purpose is to provide Cabinet Office with guidance to demonstrate how factors should be applied to calculate the amount of added pension (AP) to be awarded when a PCSPS member, their employer or third party opts to make a lump sum payment or a member makes regular periodic payments. This guidance applies to members in the classic, classic plus, premium or nuvos sections of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. Added pension guidance for the alpha scheme (or Civil Servants and Others Pension Scheme) has been provided separately to Cabinet Office.

No guidance issued for the Civil Servants and Others Pension Scheme (CSOPS or 'alpha' scheme) should be used for any calculations relating to AP from the PCSPS.

We do not envisage any special cases not covered by this guidance. However, if any do occur they should be referred to the Government Actuary's Department (GAD).

The regulations provide for a restriction on the minimum and maximum amount of added pension that can be purchased by a member. Cabinet Office must check against the current minimum and maximum limits before allowing the member to exercise the option to buy added pension.

This guidance does not include age addition factors for increases to added pension for members who have reached pension age. These are set out in the early and late retirement guidance.

Similarly, this guidance does not include factors for the buyout of actuarial reduction to added pension. These are set out in the actuarial reduction buy out (ARBO) guidance.

Where members have a 'personal pension age' (PPA) (i.e. a normal pension age between 60 and 65 years) please refer these cases to GAD.

The following changes have been made when reviewing this guidance:

• Important information around the expected audience for the guidance, use of the guidance, review of factors, compliance and limitations applies across all sets of guidance. Rather than being repeated in each set of guidance, this can now be found on the scheme home page. It is important to read this information alongside the guidance.
• Calculation methodology: No changes have been made to the calculation methodology.
• Examples: There are no examples in this guidance. Worked examples, using the calculation methodology, can be found in prior versions of the guidance (though please note that these use historic factors).
• Factor tables: The "Factor Tables" tab contains the names of the tables that are referenced in the calculation methodology. The tables of factors themselves can be found in the most recently published "Consolidated Factors Workbook" which is available by clicking the "Download current Consolidated Factors Workbook" button on the scheme's home page.
• Assumptions: The key assumptions underlying the factors are contained in the Consolidated Factors Workbook.
• Regulations: The regulations that require the production of the actuarial factors and/or guidance that is the subject of this guidance are summarised in the "Regulations" tab.