BRITISH TOURIST AUTHORITY TRADING AS VISITBRITAIN ...

VisitBritain and VisitEngland
Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 st March 2010 (Continued)
28 Retirement benefits
VisitBritain operates two post-employment defined benefit schemes for its employees, in the United Kingdom and the USA, and
defined contribution schemes in other parts of the world.
The total pensions cost of the group was £1,081k (2008/09 - £1,289k), of which £617k (2008/09 - £775k) is normal contribution
related to the group’s main defined benefit pension scheme, the British Tourist Boards’ Pension Scheme (BTBPS). A further
special contribution of £331k (2008/09 - £394k) has been paid to the BTBPS as pension enhancement for staff who took early
retirement as part of VisitBritain’s restructuring programme.
Total amounts charged to the comprehensive statement of income and expenditure for contributions to pension schemes were
as follows:
68
2010 2009
£’000 £’000
Normal contribution* 95 879
Pension enhancement exceptional contributions** - 394
Special contributions*** 21 16
116 1,289
*Actual normal contribution costs incurred in 2009/10 was £712k of which £617 related to the BTBPS, which was recognised
as a contribution towards the plan assets in accordance with IAS 19 accounting requirements in respect of defined benefit
plans.
**Actual pension enhancement costs incurred in 2009/10 was £331k, all relating to the BTBPS, which was recognised as a
contribution towards the plan assets in accordance with the IAS 19 accounting requirements in respect of defined benefit
plans
***The special pension contribution is a supplementary pension scheme for the CEO of both VB and VE that was made to a
Self Investment Pension Plan (SIPP)
The pension report is prepared according to the requirements of IAS 19.
VisitBritain is a participant in the British Tourist Boards Pension Scheme (BTBPS) providing pension benefits and life
assurance for all UK permanent staff, based upon final pensionable pay.
VisitBritain employees in the USA employed on a local status basis can join the USA defined benefit scheme.
A full actuarial valuation was carried out for both the UK and the US schemes by Xafinity consulting and the Mercer actuary
respectively. The valuation, using IAS 19 assumptions and methodology, formed the basis of the 2009/10 disclosure.
UK BTBPS
The latest full valuation of the UK pension scheme was carried out with effect from 1 st April 2009 and liabilities for the IAS 19
disclosure have been calculated by rolling forward the valuation liabilities from that valuation date to the measurement date,
allowing for payroll and benefit information. The resulting liabilities have then been adjusted to reflect the different
assumptions used.
The UK scheme is a multi-employer scheme including other tourist boards where the employers’ contributions are affected by a
surplus or deficit in the scheme but the contribution rate is set at a common level and does not reflect the liability of the individual
participating employer. In the past each employer was unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities on a
consistent and reasonable basis, however for from April 2010 the actuary were able to use the results of the triennial valuation at
31 st March 2009 to allocate individual member liabilities to each employer. As a result this information is disclosed in the financial
statements.