Pensions Matters - Winter 2024
Administration update
The team have continue to ensure all Service Levels are met, details of these are published regularly on the Hampshire Pension Services (HPS) website.In addition to the day-to-day work, and in the last 3 months of last year, we have:
- Issued active and deferred member newsletters.
- Delivered employer bitesize training workshops.
- Tested a monthly returns module.
- Worked with employers to complete their data validation declarations where required.
- Continued to tidy service information following McCloud data uploads.
- Run employer focus groups.
Over the next quarter our focus will be preparing for the 2025 valuation and annual benefit statements including the estimated impact of any underpin for those that meet the McCloud eligibility. As part of the our strive for continuous improvement, we are also looking to finalise our review of our Employer training offering as well as continue to investigate a pilot of monthly returns.
To ensure that the 2025 valuation runs smoothly, it is important that employers ensure notifications and responses to queries are sent in a timely manner, in line with the administration strategy. If you have any concerns with this, please email [email protected]
Pre-payment of contributions
As with last year, eligible employers can elect to make an advance payment of contributions for the 2025/2026 financial year on 1 April 2025.
Please refer to the Pre-payment terms for Employers document attached for further information and email [email protected] no later than 31 January 2025 if you wish to take up the pre-payment option.
*Please note that we can only accept requests for 1-year advanced payments this year, as we are part-way through the period covered by the 2022 triennial valuation.
Triennial Valuation 2025
Alongside our Fund Actuary Hymans Robertson, we will be preparing for the next triennial valuation of the Hampshire Pension Fund at 31 March 2025.
The triennial valuation is an exercise where the current funding strategy is reviewed. The triennial valuation is a statutory requirement and is based on different funding assumptions to your IAS19 annual accounting valuations.
Key outputs of the valuation are review of each employers' funding level and to set new contribution rates for the Fund's participating employers for the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029.
The below outlines the key milestones in the 2025 valuation. These timings might change but we will let you know if they do.
2025 Annual return
In December 2024, we issued a draft annual return template to employers, to help with planning for the 2025 submission.
There will be no changes to the data required on the member breakdown tab, however employers and payroll providers should note the prompts for checking data before it is submitted.
The 2025 annual return will be due by 30 April 2025 and must be signed off by the Scheme Employer.
To help prepare, we wanted to remind you of some actions you should be taking, to help put you in the best position and ensure a smooth 2025 annual return process:
- Ensure you are up to date with starter and leaver notifications, as well as notifications for opt outs, 50:50 and main section scheme changes. You can check the members we hold a pension record for, by running a report via the Employer Hub,
- If you have changed payroll during the scheme year, ensure all forms and queries following this change are resolved before your annual return is sent.
- Liaise with your payroll provider (if applicable) to ensure they understand the requirements for annual returns and notifications, as well as the deadline to submit to you the annual return for sign off and submission to Hampshire Pensions.
Webinars and clinics
Annual return webinars and clinics will take place between February and April 2025. These will be an opportunity for employers to have a refresh of the process and understand common issues/queries. The clinics will provide opportunity to provide support to individual employers where needed.
These will be advertised shortly.
As always, if you need any support to submit your annual return data accurately and on time do contact us - [email protected]
Member Newsletters
During November 2024, we published our annual active and deferred member newsletters. The purpose of these is to ensure continuous member engagement with their pension.
Please do promote the active member newsletter to your employees in the LGPS.
New Member Engagement
To engage with members at the start of their LGPS journey, we will be offering monthly webinars to all new starters. The purpose of these sessions is to ensure that members understand the benefits of the scheme, the actions they are required to take, and to inform them of how they can continue to engage with their pension.
Members can use the links below to sign up to a session, which will be promoted in the Starter Notification letters that we send. Please also promote these to any new employees/members you enrol.
| Date | Time | Sign up link |
|---|---|---|
| 24 February 2025 | 14:00 - 15:00 | Sign up here |
| 27 March 2025 | 12:00 - 13:00 | Sign up here |
Our website with further dates and information will be available shortly.
Extension of New Fair deal FE Colleges
HMT has confirmed in a letter to the Association of Colleges that New Fair Deal guidance applies to FE colleges that operate in a statutory sector in England from 14 November 2024. 
Provided under the New Fair Deal guidance, compulsorily transferred employees must have continued access to the same public sector pension scheme with the new employer. It was published in 2013 and applies directly to central government departments, agencies and other parts of the public sector under control of central government e.g. academies. This extension to FE colleges in England follows the reclassification of FE colleges as public bodies in November 2022.
When a Fair Deal employer undertakes an outsourcing, the new employer must continue to provide the transferred employees with access to the LGPS in their new employment (where the employees were eligible to be members of the LGPS before the transfer). If you are considering an outsourcing, please email [email protected] for more support and guidance.
Prudential AVC submission
Prudential has put together a payroll guide to help employers successfully submit payroll information. The guide covers how to format and send payroll information to Prudential and when payments should be made.
As a reminder
- If there are any errors with the payroll file or your payment, Prudential won't be able to upload the contributions to your member records until the errors are corrected.
- Prudential will contact you to let you know how to correct the errors and will ask you to resend the file.
- Delays to uploading contributions, due to errors in files or payment, may delay the investment date. Prudential will return uninvested contributions to you if they don't receive the corrected information within a reasonable timeframe.
If you have any further questions about your payroll files or BACS payments, please email Prudential at [email protected]
McCloud public service pensions history form
Some LGPS members are protected by the McCloud remedy. You can find out more about the McCloud remedy on the website for LGPS members: www.lgpsmember.org/mccloud-remedy
Protections depends on when someone was a member of the LGPS and any public sector pension scheme. To help us identify whether a member is eligible for protection, we are asking members to complete a McCloud Pension History Form via their Member Portal account, if they were a member of a public sector pension scheme before they joined the LGPS in the Hampshire Pension Fund. Not everyone in this group will need to complete the form.
Members do not need to complete the form if:
- the only public sector pension scheme they have been a member of is the LGPS in the Hampshire Pension Fund,
- they were a member of a public sector pension scheme before they joined the LGPS in the Hampshire Pension Fund, but that membership has been transferred to the Hampshire Pension Fund,
- they first joined a public sector pension scheme after 31 March 2012,
- they left the LGPS or reached age 65 before 1 April 2014,
- they are/were a councillor member in the Hampshire Pension Fund,
- they joined the LGPS with the Hampshire Pension Fund after the 31 March 2022,
- they joined the LGPS with the Hampshire Pension Fund before 1 April 2013 and had no long gaps (over five years) in membership.
More information on this is available in our member newsletters.
Backdated pay awards
Notifying of backdated pay for leavers
As a reminder following the Local Government Pay award agreed in November 2024, please ensure that where you have paid
backdated pay to ex-employee and had previously provided an LGPS leaver notification you advise Hampshire Pension Services of the amended CARE and final pay figures on the 'revised pay spreadsheet'. This should be sent to [email protected]
Without this notification we will not be able to re-calculate additional pension benefits the member is entitled to. No action is needed for active employees continuing to contribute to the LGPS, as any backdated pay needs to be reflected in your 2025 annual return.
Change to your payroll provider
If you change your payroll provider, it is important to make Hampshire Pension Service (HPS) aware of these changes as soon as possible. HPS will guide you through the actions required from an LGPS perspective, to ensure there are no impacts to your employee's LGPS pension.
More information on the steps which will need to be followed to ensure a smooth transition can be found on our 'Change of Payroll Provider Factsheet'.
If you do have any questions or concerns, then please email [email protected] and someone from the team will get in touch.
Outsourcing of services - action needed
Scheme employers who are looking to outsource services (e.g. catering, cleaning) will need to be aware of possible pension implications for any staff transferring who have LGPS entitlement, regardless of whether you, as an employer, directly employs the individual(s) concerned.
If you are in the process of, or are thinking of outsourcing a service, please get in touch with our Employer Services team - [email protected] as soon as possible so we can provide you with further information and guidance as appropriate.
Employer Hub - Online Services
As a reminder Employers (or payroll providers on their behalf), should be using the Employer Hub where possible to: 
- submit individual starter notifications (where a bulk upload is not used)
- submit/upload leaver notifications
- submit changes e.g. 50:50/main section
- run employer estimates
Users are also able to:
- upload employer initiated authorisation forms, CETV requests, ill health certificates, opt out forms
- view individual active member records
- run reports on member portal registrations
- run reports on active membership to support in checking starter/leaver notifications have been sent.
If you have any feedback on the Hub, including suggestions for future development, please email [email protected]
Employer Hub Demos
As always, we are keen to work with Employers and payroll providers to ensure that the Employer online service is being used to its potential. We are therefore pleased to be offering the following monthly
Employer Hub Demonstrations:
| Date | Time | Sign up link |
|---|---|---|
| 30 January 2025 | 14:00 - 15:00 | Sign up now |
| 24 February 2025 | 11:00 - 12:00 | Sign up now |
There is no charge for attendance at these sessions.
To find out more information on the Employer Hub or to access this, please use the below links:
- Employer Hub
- or email us: [email protected]
Member Portal - Updates and developments
Member Portal URL
Early in 2024, following feedback from members, Hampshire Pension Services updated the URL link to mypensionportal.hants.gov.uk
The current redirection in place will end in April 2025, therefore please ensure that you promote the updated URL as relevant.
Portal Developments
Improving member engagement with their pension, continues to be a key focus. over the last few months, the following developments have been implemented:
- Improvements to the My Message facility to allow a thread of message to be viewed rather than multiple entries.
- Standard confirmation emails to members when deferments or deferred retirements have been processed.
- Implementation of online identification and verification for overseas pensioner members, removing the need to complete a life certificate.
- The McCloud history from available to complete online.
- Track my case for active members, allowing members to see the progress of the retirement process (already live for deferred members). Example below of what a member will see.
Current planned and future developments
We are currently finalising our Portal Development plan for 2025/26 based on feedback from members and employers, and will share the details in the next edition.
Employer Action
Please continue to encourage members to engage with their pension by registering and using the Member Portal.
Review LGPS information provided to members
Please can we remind employers to regularly review any information they provide employees in relation to the LGPS including:
- Any links on your intranet or in letters/emails to the old member portal address replaced with the current URL mypensionportal.hants.gov.uk before the redirect to the old URL is switched off in April.
- Member pension forms, please can you ensure a link to our member forms webpages, rather than specific PDF links, as these can become out of date.
Unpaid leave and Additional Pension Contributions
Employers should make members aware of the option to buy 'lost' pension for any periods of authorised unpaid leave of absences including any period of unpaid additional maternity or adoption leave, unpaid parental bereavement leave, unpaid shared parental leave and unpaid carer's leave. This notification should take place upon a member's return from absence.
An employee may elect to pay APCs to purchase any or all of the amount of pension 'lost' during the period of absence. If they elect to do so within 30 days of returning to work (or such longer period as the employer allows), the employer must pay 2/3rds of the cost of the APC (a Shared Cost APC).
Members and Employers can use the Extra or lost pension calculator on the national LGPS member website. The calculators allow members to complete and print or download an application for buying lost (or extra) pension.
If the Scheme member wishes to purchase lost pension in any of the above circumstances, they will need to sign a contract to do so. Your payroll and Hampshire Pension Services must be notified via the application:
- of the amount of lost pension, the member is purchasing,
- how much the purchase costs,
- of the period over which it is to be paid, or if it is to be paid by a lump sum,
- if the member has more than one pensionable employment, the employment to which the APC contract is to be attached.
Employer Focus Group
In November 2024, we ran our Employer Focus Group, engaging with employers and seeking feedback around:
- Monthly returns
- Employer Hub
- Employer training
Minutes from these sessions are available on our website.
If you are interested in participating in future Focus Groups, please email [email protected]
Ill-health retirement - LGA bitesize online sessions
Did you know that on the LGPS Regulations and Guidance website there are some quick and simple bite-size training modules to help with ill-health retirements.
Ill-health retirement for active members
This bite-size session helps explain the process for active employees who are being consider for ill-health retirement. It covers the criteria, the decision-making process, and the benefits payable.
Ill-health retirement for deferred members
This session helps you understand the ill-health process for deferred members. Deferred members are those who previously paid into the LGPS, and since leaving the scheme have left their pension on hold with us. Deferred members wishing to apply to their pension on ill-health grounds should go to you as their formal employer, to make an informed decision on whether this should be approved in line with the LGPS regulations.
These sessions will be helpful to anyone involved with the ill-health retirement process, such as HR and occupation health colleagues.
If you do have any further questions on the process for ill-health retirement, please email [email protected]
Employer training bitesize sessions
We currently run several bitesize training sessions for Employers on various areas of the LGPS to help them with their administration and regulatory responsibilities. Each session is between 45 minutes and two hours long.
The next available sessions are detailed below:
| Subject | Date | Time | Sign up link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employers in the LGPS, Starters and Opt Outs | 5 February 2025 | 10:00 | Sign up here |
| Pensionable Pay Workshop | 6 February 2025 | 14:00 | Sign up here |
| Leavers and Retirements, including Starter, Leaver, and Estimate Forms | 7 February 2025 | 10:00 | Sign up here |
| APC's, Absences, paying in more, Paying in less - 50:50 | 10 February 2025 | 15:00 | Sign up here |
| Discretions and Disputes (IDRP's) | 12 February 2025 | 10:00 | Sign up here |
| Organisational changes (Outsourcing, Mergers, Change of Payroll) | 13 February 2025 | 14:00 | Sign up here |
| Bulk Starters - completing bulk joiner spreadsheet | 14 February 2025 | 10:00 | Sign up here |
| Employer Hub Demo | 24 February 2025 | 11:00 | Sign up here |
Please note that there is no charge for attendance at any of the sessions above, we do however ask if you are no longer able to attend, that you cancel your space at least 72 hours in advance.
For more information and to book your space please visit the Hampshire Pensions Employer area of our website.
If you are unable to book a place on a course, email [email protected] with details of the course you would like to attend, including how many places you require.
Employer training review
During 2025 we will be reviewing our training offering to employers to ensure that this remains relevant and effective. More information on this will follow in the next few months, however if you do have any feedback/comments you would like us to consider, please email [email protected]
LGA - Employer role training
In addition to the Employer training offered by Hampshire Pension Services the LGA also offer training to support Employers understand the scheme and their roles/responsibilities. Please note charges apply for these sessions. You can review the session details book using the link below:
If you have any questions with regards to the above training, please email the LGA training team directly: [email protected]
Pre-retirement Course provided by Affinity Connect
For our smaller scheme employers, we wanted to let you about spaces available for your employees at several Pre-retirement courses. This course is run by Affinity Connect, a retirement specialist.
These workshops are designed to raise awareness of the key issues your employees will need to consider, and decisions they will need to make, as they begin to approach this stage in their life. They are suitable for those employees who think they might like to retire within the next couple of years or so and are just as valuable for those who are not sure at what age they wish to retire, as well as those who have a definite age in mind.
Up and coming dates
| Date | Time | Location | Sign up link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 March 2025 | 09:30 - 15:30 | Face to face | Sign up now |
| 19 March 2025 | 09:30 - 15:30 | Online | Sign up now |
| 22 April 2025 | 13:00 - 15:30 | Online | Sign up now |
More information on these courses can be found on our website.
Other news
LGPC bulletins
The LGA have released the following pension bulletins on their website.
Bulletin 258 - December 2024
- Extensions of New Fair Deal to FE Colleges
- PDP progress update report
- LGA 2025 training programme including 'Employer role'
- Consultation - Local audit reform
Bulletin 257 - November 2024
- FE LGPS guarantee
- MHCLG team email address change
- Budget 2025 - including extending inheritance tax to pension death benefits
- Pensions review: Interim report for first phase
Bulletin 256 - October 2024
- LGPS statistics for 2023/24 published
- September 2024 CPI rate announced
- Pensions Dashboards
- TPR data quality engagement
Bulletin 255 - September 2024
- Pensions review - Call for evidence
- MAPs launch digital Pension Wise appointments
- Pensions Dashboard
- Pension Attention Campaign 2024
Useful links
LGPS regulations and guidance website
Hampshire Pension Services website
Are there any topics, you would specifically like covered, please let us know for consideration by emailing [email protected]