There are currently six ways in which a scheme members make additional contributions.

1. Additional Pension Contributions (APCs) - available from 1 April 2014 (current maximum annual pension available to purchase is £8,344 effective from 1 April 2024)
2. Additional Regular Contributions (ARCs) - available from 1 April 2008 until 31 March 2014
3. Added Years - available until 31 March 2008 (but existing added years contracts honoured)
4. Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)
5. Free Standing Additional Voluntary Contributions (FSAVCs)
6. Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contributions (SCAVCs)
7. Stakeholder Pension Scheme
8. Personal Pension Plan

Payment of Pension Contributions to the Pension Fund

Every Scheme employer must pay to the appropriate administering authority, on or before such dates falling at intervals of not more than 12 months as the appropriate administering authority may determine, all amounts from time to time deducted from the pay of their employees under the regulations.

The Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund has produced a Contribution Return Guide for employers to assist with this process.

There is a strict law now applied to the payment of pension contributions over to the Pension Fund. The Pension Fund must receive all employee contributions by the 19th day of the month following the end of the month in which the contributions were deducted. For example, the Pension Fund must receive contributions deducted from any pay received during September by the 19 of October. Employers who do not meet this deadline are breaking the law.

The Pensions Regulator has the power to investigate employers who do not pay pension contributions on time. They can impose fines and, in serious cases, even take employers to court. The Pensions Regulator's statutory functions were set up under the Pensions Act 2004 and associated legislation. An annual return has to be made each year by all Pension Fund's which will assist the Pensions Regulator in assessing the level of risk to members' pension scheme benefits.

The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, as administering authority to the Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund, has a responsibility to check that these deadlines are met. Where contributions are not received by the 19th of the month, the administering authority has the right to report an employer to the Pensions Regulator within 30 days. If the employer has failed to make payment of contributions within 60 days from the 19^th of the month, the administering authority also has the power to notify scheme members of their employer's failure to meet the required deadline.

Failure to make payments within the 19-day deadline may result in the Pension Fund reporting the employer to the Pensions Regulator. In such instances, the Pensions Regulator will consider the information available and where a genuine and honest mistake has been made, and steps are being taken to ensure that such a mistake is not repeated, no further action will be taken. Where the Pensions Regulator find that an employer has no good reason for paying contributions late, or that despite several warnings the employer continues to break the law, they will send a "statement of facts" to the employer for their comments before deciding whether or not to impose a fine.

There are some simple steps that can be taken to ensure that contributions are paid on time:

• Decide whose job it is to make payments of contributions to the Pension Fund and who will deputise when that person is absent
• Decide how contributions are to be paid, and if at all possible, pay them electronically via BACS or CHAPS
• Aim to make payment earlier than the legal due date
• Remember, money that is meant for the Pension Fund does not belong to the employer and is to be invested for the benefit of the scheme member.