Performance standards

You need to read the pension administration strategy; it is a summary of both your duties and responsibilities as an employer and also ours. We include target times and standards for both us and yourselves. These are regularly monitored to ensure a high quality service.

Contact details

Once admitted to GMPF we ask you to:

• fill in your contact details form with designated contacts
• set up authorised contacts and employer login accounts so you can liaise with us and carry out your employer role.
• fill in your employer pack to start using i-Connect.

You must return your contact details form within three weeks of being admitted to GMPF and you will need to let us know if any of your contact details change.

You also need to tell us if any other details that affect your admission change, particularly if you have an admission agreement with us, for example, your employer name or any policy changes.

Monthly data submission via i-Connect

We use i-Connect to collect data from you for each payroll period. We usually refer to this as your monthly data submission, but it can be submitted more frequently depending on your payroll. You can find more information in the monthly data submission section.

Once admitted to GMPF, you need to decide whether you wish to submit your data via online input or a .CSV file. If your data is sent by a payroll provider, we will ask you to complete an employer compliance agreement (ECA) to authorise us to contact them. Either you or your payroll provider will be sent a pack to complete to set you up on i-Connect.

Payment of employer and employee contributions

You need to ensure that your employee and employer contributions are correctly calculated and paid promptly.

You will be provided with your employer contribution rate and contributions payment form upon formal admission. Our Accountancy team will update you each financial year thereafter.

Each member’s pay determines how much the member will contribute to the Scheme. In line with the statutory increase in pensions, the bands for member contribution rates are revised each April. The LGPS HR and payroll guides provide further details about how to work out member contributions.

All contributions, except AVCs, should be paid monthly via BACS to GMPF. Your payment deadline is the first working day of the month following the month they were deducted. Bank details are provided on your contributions payment form. You should complete the form each month and email it to contributions@tameside.gov.uk before you send payment.

The Pensions Regulator may be notified if contributions are not received by the nineteenth of the month following the month they were deducted. This comes under the Pensions Act 2014 and the Occupational Pension Schemes (Scheme Administration) Regulations 1996.

For employees who were members previously and paying additional pension contributions (APCs), please contact us for advice on how to deal with them. For those who were previously paying additional voluntary contributions (AVCs), these members will need to liaise with our AVC provider about how to set up an AVC again. The AVC provider will contact you directly to arrange collection of AVCs which must be paid directly to them and not GMPF.

Employer induction and training

Relevant training sessions are made available on a six week cycle, which cover Pensionable pay (final salary and care pay), Retirement and leavers, Employer discretions, Ill health, and Topping up benefits. See the Events for details of our next sessions.

If you are joining GMPF for the first time or you require extra support, you will be guided through a six month process to ensure all employer responsibilities are fully understood. Our Employer Liaison team will make contact with you if you need an induction.

Employer discretions

LGPS regulations state that in a number of areas, decisions are at the employer’s discretion. Employers must publish policies in relation to the areas of discretion. You will need to keep your discretion policies up to date and always provide the latest versions to GMPF to hold on our employer files. Upon admission to GMPF you must submit your discretion policies within four weeks of joining us.

Dispute resolution procedures

The internal dispute resolution procedure for LGPS is in two stages. This process enables members to complain about any matter. What the complaint is about at stage one will determine who is responsible, either you or the administering authority (for GMPF this is Tameside MBC). Any communication with members regarding decisions has to specify the job title and address of the person who will deal with the stage one application. Tameside MBC currently uses a local referee to deal with stage one disputes.

If a member is dissatisfied with the outcome at stage one, they can ask for stage two. Tameside MBC currently uses two local referees to deal with stage two disputes. We have a factsheet that provides further guidance.

Members may also use MoneyHelper or the Pensions Ombudsman. Contact details for the Pensions Ombudsman are available on their website.

New starters

It is your responsibility to tell your employees about the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), explain if they are eligible, obtain election forms (if required) and then notify us.

There is more information available in our New starters section.

Change in member details

You must keep member details up to date. You can let us know any changes in members’ details through your monthly i-Connect submission.

Leavers

When a member leaves without taking their benefits, they are either entitled to a refund or their benefits go on hold. There is further information available in our a member is leaving early section.

Retirements

When a member wants to take their retirement benefits, it’s your responsibility to decide if they are entitled to them and to provide us with the information needed. There is more information available in our A member wants to retire section

The process and responsibilities for ill health retirements can be found in the Ill health section.

We pay benefits due as part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). If you wish to award additional benefits to a member upon retirement, you will have to make your own arrangements.

Extra benefits

There are several ways members can choose to pay additional contributions. We operate an additional voluntary contributions scheme with Prudential. For members who have applied for AVCs, these should be deducted from their pay each pay period and paid directly to Prudential.

More information can be found in the additional voluntary contribution (AVCs) section.

Death grant expression of wish

We encourage you to arrange for members to sign up or log in to their online My Pension account and complete an expression of wish nomination. Nominations allow members to let us know who they wish to receive any death grant that may be payable. Tameside MBC (as administering authority) has absolute discretion as to who should receive a death grant.

Responsibility to our employers

We observe General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for any information or changes you send to us and for any information we send to you. We maintain all member records paying attention to key performance indicators (KPIs). Our KPIs are listed within the Pension Administration Strategy. GMPF is a Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) member.

We provide regular bulletins, training and forms to help with the pension administration part of your job. There is also an employer’s helpline, 0161 301 7200, for general advice and queries. For more technical and training queries please contact our Employer Support team at employersupport@gmpf.org.uk.

Our annual employer update meeting is open for employers to attend. It includes topical presentations and a report on GMPF’s activities during the previous financial year. See our calendar of events and annual report and accounts.

Responsibility to our members

We maintain an individual record for each member of GMPF and ensure the security of member information in line with GDPR.

My Pension offers members the ability to find out personal information about their benefits. On My Pension, members can:

• check their annual benefit statement
• make nominations
• run benefit calculations
• amend personal details
• print off payslips (pensioners only).

Members can also contact us by completing the contact us section of the website, or calling our Customer Services team.

We have a communications policy which describes how we will communicate with our members, prospective members, member representatives and employers. Members are kept informed through our website, newsletters and our member roadshows and surgeries.

Investment

Information about our investments can be found in the about us area of our website. There is also additional information in our Investment Strategy Statement (ISS) and annual report.

Actuarial valuation

The valuation of GMPF is one of the most important aspects of fund management. Our assets and liabilities are measured every three years, and we are required to maintain a Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) to show our approach to funding. Our actuary Hymans Robertson takes account of this statement when providing valuation results and setting employer contribution rates.

Accountancy

The Pensions Accountancy team records and monitors the receipt of contribution payments and reconciles them. Any inconsistencies or unexplained adjustments will be queried. They issue invoices for strain costs and monitor monthly payments received from our employers.

The Pensions Accountancy team is responsible for producing our accounts, and each year a copy is made available within the annual report.

If you need to include details of pension arrangements and costs as part of your annual accounts, please inform our Pensions Accountancy team as soon as possible.

Audit

Tameside MBC has an internal audit section that checks our procedures and makes recommendations for improvements. Occasionally they may ask to attend employer offices to carry out audits regarding, for example, calculation of pensionable pay.

You are requested to assist with any changes and comply with new procedures.

GMPF is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) which is a statutory, funded pension scheme. GMPF is administered by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council.

The LGPS is a registered public service pension scheme under the Finance Act 2004. The Pension Scheme Tax Reference is 00329324RG.

Governance and management of GMPF

Tameside MBC

Tameside MBC is the statutory administering authority for GMPF.

Management Panel

The administration and investment performance of GMPF is reviewed every quarter by the Management Panel. The Management Panel carries out a similar role to the trustees of a pension scheme and oversees pension scheme responsibilities. It is the decision making body of GMPF. The Management Panel consists of 22 elected members (13 from Tameside MBC, being the administering authority, and nine from other Greater Manchester local authorities) and a representative from the Ministry of Justice in relation to probation staff. The Management Panel is advised in all areas by the Advisory Panel.

Advisory Panel

The ten Greater Manchester local authorities and the Ministry of Justice are represented on the Advisory Panel. There are also six employee representatives nominated by the North West TUC. Three external advisors assist the advisory panel, in particular regarding investment related issues.

Local Pension Board

Tameside MBC as the administering authority established a Local Pension Board in 2015/16. The Pension Board is not a decision making body. However, it is required to assist GMPF in compliance with regulations and ensure that appropriate governance is in place.

Working groups

GMPF also has three working groups that consider particular areas of its activities and make recommendations to the Management Panel:

• Administration, Employer Funding and Viability
• Investment Monitoring and ESG
• Policy and Development

GMPF organisation

The Director of Governance and Pensions Sandra Stewart, is the administrator of GMPF. The directorate is split into:

• Pensions Administration
• Funding and Business Development
• CIO Real Assets and Local Investments (including Accountancy and Legal)
• Investments

For further details on the management structure please visit the Tameside leadership team information and go to the pensions section.

Roles of each service unit

Pensions Administration

The main role of Pensions Administration is to determine and pay benefits in line with the LGPS Regulations and other relevant legislation. The office deals with all the day to day administration of member’s records and pension benefits.

Funding and Business Development

This unit oversees GMPF’s funding and business development.

CIO Real Assets and Local Investments

This unit deals with GMPF’s property developments and local investments, driving improvements in risk adjusted returns whilst promoting a positive impact for the local economy and collaboration with other LGPS Funds. The assistant director also manages the legal and accountancy functions of GMPF.

Pensions Accountancy

The main role of Pensions Accountancy is to provide the accounting function in respect of GMPF and an efficient, effective and comprehensive financial and business support services to GMPF, its managers and external customers.

Investments

The Investments unit deals with the overall investment structure and strategy of GMPF, including:

• oversight of the external securities managers in UK and overseas markets
• managing portfolios of investments in private equity
• infrastructure and special opportunities
• GMPF’s approach to environmental, social and governance issues
• ensuring the security of GMPF’s worldwide holdings of securities through oversight of GMPF’s custodian bank.

Pension Fund Legal

The main aim of Pensions Fund Legal is to provide high quality legal function in respect of GMPF.

The LGPS is a statutory pension scheme and the benefits are guaranteed by law. The LGPS is a registered public service pension scheme under Chapter 2 of Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004. It achieved automatic registration by virtue of Part 1 of Schedule 36 of that Act (because the scheme was, immediately before 6 April 2006, both a retirement benefits scheme approved under Chapter 1 of Part XIV of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 and a relevant statutory scheme under section 611A of that Act). This means it meets the requirement of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), so members get tax relief on their contributions.

The LGPS rules are written by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)), and statutory instruments are laid before Parliament (regulations were delegated from the Superannuation Act 1972 and in future will be made under the Public Service Pension Schemes Act 2013).

It complies with the relevant provisions of the Pension Schemes Act 1993, the Pensions Act 1995 and the Pensions Act 2004.

The LGPS meets the government's standards under the automatic enrolment provisions of the Pensions Act 2008.

Tameside MBC runs GMPF, from day to day administration to investments. However, we can only do this successfully by working closely with you as the employer. Both Tameside MBC, as the administering authority, and yourselves as the employing authority have specific roles and responsibilities as specified by the local government regulations. It is important that we work successfully in partnership together to ensure that we provide a cost effective and efficient pension scheme for your employees.

Training

If you are interested in seeing what courses we currently have available please visit our training area. You can also find more detail about GMPF in our technical-and-training-guides and recent employer communications.

The Local Government Association (LGA) also provides training courses which you can find out more about on their website.

The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) provides local government pension qualifications. You can find details of these on their website.

Useful websites

Our members’ website has additional information and is a resource for you and your members.

www.lgpsmember.org

The national website for LGPS members and provides useful information and videos about how the Scheme works.

www.lgpsregs.org

A useful resource for employers and administrators, this site provides guides on payroll, HR, and administration as well as the LGPS Regulations.

You can find out useful information about the LGPS, your responsibilities and the data that you will be required to submit in the following documents:

• An introduction to the LGPS for scheduled bodies
• A guide for employers participating in the LGPS best practice

Other useful websites

The following websites also provide useful information about retirement and the LGPS.

 

Organisation	How they can help	URL
Age UK	Providing confidential advice and support for pensioners	www.ageuk.org.uk
Citizens advice	Providing advice on financial matters as well as consumer complaints	www.citizensadvice.org.uk
HM Revenue and Customs	Managing and providing information about tax, benefits and other state support	www.hmrc.gov.uk
LGPS member site	Information for members of the LGPS	www.lgpsmember.org
Pensions UK	A trade association that works across all aspects of the pensions industry	www.pensionsuk.org.uk/
MoneyHelper	A resourse providing impartial, government backed, guidance	www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement
The Pensions Ombudsman	Investigates complaints from members and beneficiaries of pension schemes	www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk
The Pensions Regulator	Information about how the pensions industry is regulated to ensure members, benefits are looked after	www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk
The Pension Tracing Service	A government service to help you find your lost pension benefits	www.gov.uk/find-lost-pension
Department for work and pensions	Administers and provides details about the state pension and other state benefits	www.dwp.gov.uk
State pension	Find out your state pension age and about the stage pension	www.gov.uk/browse/working/state-pension
Pension Wise (from MoneyHelper)	Providing advice about defined contribution pension options	www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-wise