Employers | Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund

ANNOUNCEMENT

Employer News

Welcome to our new Employer Page for Scheme Employers of the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund. This page is currently being developed by the Pension Fund. If you cannot find a form or guide on this page please contact the Pension Fund and we will send it to you.

Local Government Association (LGA) Guides and Information

The LGA provides a range of guides and information on their own website to help employers understand and carry out their role to administer the LGPS.

LGA HR Guide

This guide explains the requirements, responsibilities and duties for Human Resource (HR) sections of scheme employers who offer employees membership to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales. The information contained in the guide provides the minimum information employers should provide to a LGPS Pension Fund to allow them to administer the LGPS. It should be considered supplementary to any information requirements already provided to employers by the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund and not in place of those requirements.

LGA HR Guide

LGA Payroll Guide

This guide explains the requirements for Payroll sections of scheme employers who offer employees membership to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales. This guide is effective from the 1st April 2014 and it refers to the career average scheme as ‘the 2014 Scheme’ and the final salary pension scheme as ‘the 2008 Scheme’.

LGA Payroll Guide

LGA Discretions Technical Guide

This guide covers the mandatory and recommended non-mandatory discretions scheme employers have the power to exercise in relation to members of the LGPS Career Average and earlier schemes and must formulate, publish and keep under review a discretions policy statement.

LGA Discretions Technical Guide

LGA Employer Resources

The LGPS Regulations and Guidance website has its own employer resources section for LGPS scheme employers. It contains the LGPS Scheme Regulations, employer guides, bite-size training videos, other upcoming training opportunities and monthly LGPS news bulletins.

LGA Employer Resources Section

Employer Forms

Leaving the LGPS in a Post Notification

This form is for employers to tell the Pension Fund when a member leaves their employment with you and is paying into the LGPS with the Fund.

Leaving The LGPS In A Post Notification V3.0 06102022

Estimate Request Form

This form is for employers to request an estimate for a member of the LGPS pension. You should only complete this form if you need to know the costs of making a decision to terminate an employee on the grounds of redundancy, business efficiency, flexible retirement or ill health retirement.

Estimate Request Form (1)

Change of Circumstances Form

This form is for employers to tell the Pension Fund about any of the following member changes:- • Joining 50/50 section of LGPS • Re-joining the main section of LGPS • Change of Post Reference • Change of Pension Contribution Rate • Change of Contractual Hours • Change of Contractual Weeks • Break in Pensionable Service • Change of Name • Change of Address • Change of personal email address

Change Of Circumstances Form

Notification of a post holder joining the LGPS

This form is for employers to tell the Pension Fund about an employee who has been enrolled into the LGPS.

Notification Of A New Postholder

IRMP Application Form

This form should be completed when an employer wishes to request the Pension Fund consider adding an Independent Registered Medical Practitioner (IRMP) to the Fund's approved IRMP list.

IRMP Application Form

Fund Approved Independent Registered Medical Practitioners (IRMP)

IRMP List

This is the current list of Independent Registered Medical Practitioners (IRMPs) who have been approved by the Pension Fund to carry out medical assessments in relation to ill health retirements.

Ill Health Certificates

IHC1

IHC1 for Current Active Members (still paying into LGPS). This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC2

IHC2 Certificate for Deferred Members (no longer paying into LGPS) who left on or after the 1st April 2014. This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC3

IHC3 Certificate for Deferred Members who left on or after 1st April 2008 but before the 1st April 2014. This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC4

IHC4 Certificate for Deferred Members who left on or after the 1st April 1998 and before the 1st April 2008. This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC5

IHC5 Certificate for Deferred Members who left on or before the 1st April 1998. This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC6

IHC6 Certificate for a Current Eligible Councillor. This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC7

IHC7 Certificate for former Councillor Members. This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC8

IHC8 Certificate for Current Tier 3 Pensioner where stopped employment after the 31st March 2014 and the review is taking place 18 months after stopping of employment and before Normal Pension Age (NPA). This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

Ill Health Certificates Continued

IHC9

IHC9 Certificate for a Suspended Tier 3 Pensioner where employment stopped after the 31st March 2018, the review is taking place at the request of the member while Tier 3 pension is in payment, or within 3 years after Tier 3 pension payment has stopped and before Normal Pension Age (NPA). This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC10

IHC10 Certificate for a Suspended Tier 3 Pensioner where reviews is 3 or more years after payment of Tier 3 pension stopped, and before Normal Pension Age (NPA), where employment stopped after the 31st March 2014. This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC12

IHC12 Certificate for a Suspended Tier 3 Pensioner where employment stopped before the 1st April 2014, review taking place within 3 years of Tier 3 pension stopping and before Normal Pension Age (NPA). This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

IHC13

IHC13 Certificate for a Suspended Tier 3 Pensioner where review is taking place 3 or more years after Tier 3 Pension stopped, and before Normal Pension Age (NPA) where employment stopped before the 1st April 2014. This certificate should be given to the IRMP for them to complete and provide their opinion.

Employer Guides

Ill Health Retirement - Employers Guide

This guide is for Scheme Employers and Medical Advisors and sets out the provisions of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in respect of sickness absence and ill health retirement.

Ill Health Retirement Employers Guide Aug 2014

Pensions Helper - Additional Pension Contributions Factsheet

Pensions Helper Factsheet 1 Apcs V3.0 05072021

Employer Guide to Policy and Requirements for Admitted Body Status

This document sets out the policy of the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund in relation to the granting of Admitted Body Status. It is the responsibility of the outsourcing Employer to ensure that this Policy is complied with. Failure to comply with this policy may cause delays in the granting of Admitted Body Status to a new contractor or trust resulting in the award of the contract or the establishment of the trust being delayed. The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations set out the matters which must be included in the Admissions Agreement and the requirement for a Bond, Indemnity or Guarantor to be put in place. In addition the Local Authorities in Wales must also comply with the Welsh Authorities Staff Transfers (Pensions) Direction 2012.

Employer Guide To Policy And Requirements For Admitted Body Status

Cessation Policy - April 2023

This policy sets out the Administering Authority's approach to dealing with circumstances when a scheme employer leavers the fund and becomes an exiting employer.

Cessation Policy

Contribution Review Policy - April 2023

This guide sets out the Administering Authority's (Greater Gwent Pension Fund) approach to reviewing contribution rates between triennial valuations.

Contribution Review Policy

Information you Send to the Fund

Spreadsheets

Employers need to send these spreadsheets to the [email protected] inbox. For information these spreadsheets can be found at the end of this section.

These include:

Joiners
Contribution & Pay
Update service breaks
Update working hours

If you use I-connect, you no longer need to upload these spreadsheets on a monthly basis. You just need to complete 1 spreadsheet per month, which will update your member’s records automatically.

Spreadsheet Downloads

Joiners

Monthly Contributions

Service Breaks

Working Hours

Forms

Starter and Change of Circumstances Forms

The most effective way of sending starters and changes to the fund is via a spreadsheet, however if you did need to complete a form for a single member, these forms can be downloaded from the employer forms section of this page. These forms need to be sent to [email protected]

Leaver, Estimate and APC forms

Leaver, Estimate and APC forms need to be sent to [email protected].

Sending Emails

If you have generic queries, please email [email protected]. If you are responding to a specific pensions team member, please respond to them directly using their email address

I-Connect Employer User Guides

I-Connect File Upload Guide

This guide explains how to use I-Connect to send information about your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) members to the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund.

I Connect File Upload Guide

I-Connect Login Guide

This guide explains how to create user accounts on I-Connect so you can send information about Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) members to the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund.

I Connect Login Guide

I-Connect Online Return Guide

This guide explains how to send information about your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) members to the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund.

I Connect Online Return Guide

I-Connect Payroll File Extract Specification Guide

This guide will provide a full understanding of the I-Connect multiple payroll provider (MPP) payroll extra file specification of data items to be included in your submission to the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund every pay period.

I Connect MPP Payroll Extract File Specification

Employer Training

To be launched

Communications and News

The Greater Gwent Pension Fund likes to keep our Scheme Employer up to date with the latest news and support that is available to help

We support our employer by offering:-

Quarterly Employer Newsletters
Email Bulletins - for legislation changes and upcoming LGA training events
Employer Training

My Pension Online

The Fund offers members the ability to view their pension details online through our My Pension Online Service. Registration is straightforward and if we already hold the members' email address on their pension record they can get same day access to their details.

Members can update their personal details, sending information securely to the Fund through their account, view their annual benefit statements and use the pension projector to run their own pension estimates (between age 55 and 75).

The Pension Fund wants to make sure as many of our members are taking advantage of the My Pension Online service and to do this we need you our scheme employers to help advertise the service on a regular basis. You can do this by downloading our branded advertising and putting it on your staff intranets, newsletters, new employer information and even pay slips if possible.

MPO - A4 Leaflet

MPO - Newsletter/Intranet Article

Contact Us

Click on the + button on the right to show the Pension Fund Contact List

Contact Us

If you need are responding to an email received from a Pension Fund staff member you should reply back directly to them and not use the general email addresses shown below.

Name	Type	Email Address
Starters	Spreadsheet	[email protected]
Starters	Form	[email protected]
Change of Circumstances	Form	[email protected]
Update Service Break	Spreadsheet	[email protected]
Update Working Hours	Spreadsheet	[email protected]
Monthly Contributions	Spreadsheet	[email protected]
Terminations	Form	[email protected]
Estimates	Form	[email protected]
APC	Form	[email protected]