Employer Newsletter - September 2026

We have recently received confirmation that the pay award of 3.3% for this year for single status roles has been agreed (Local Managerial Grades still to be agreed). New salaries and arrears in pay, backdated to 1 April 2026, will be actioned in forthcoming payrolls.

Important…

If you provide the Fund with revised salary details for leavers post 1 April 2026 please ensure this is done via a separate spreadsheet and not via i-Connect. This is to avoid us setting up inappropriate duplicate records.

In July 2024 we relaunched our self-service website called ‘My Pension’ which provides members with online access to their Local Government Pension Scheme account(s).

New for 2026 – online video annual benefit statements

This year’s Annual Benefit Statements on ‘My Pension’ include a personalised five-minute video designed to help our members cut through complexity to better understand their benefits. We’ve had great feedback.

•  ‘I find pension talk confusing, but the video really helped with this.’
• ‘I love the video with all my details very helpful thank you.’
• ‘This video is amazing and explained well in in a brief video.’

This feedback really spoke to us, and it’s exactly why we introduced personalised videos. We know people struggle to fully understand their pension. In fact, research by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) estimates 22.5 million UK adults do not understand enough about pensions to make decisions about retirement.

We have previously asked for your support in helping promote the new website. And we would like to ask again. For contributing members, approximately 55% have registered.

Register for 'My Pension' 

Increased registration ensures members have access to tools that empower them to manage their pensions effectively, reducing queries and administrative workloads for both employers and the Fund. 

Going forwards our ESPF roadmap is geared towards making greater use of self service and online workflow and processes.

For registration guidance and FAQS, visit our ‘My Pension’ support page.

Our communications team can help if you need articles/wording. Email:

[email protected].

1.     The annual allowance (£60,000) is the amount pension savings can increase by in a year without the member having to pay extra tax. If savings increase by more than the annual allowance, tax may need to be paid. We are writing to employers where members are potentially impacted to collect salary details, please respond as soon as possible.

2.     If you are one of the eight employers impacted by councillors now being able to join the LGPS, we will be contacting you over the next few weeks to discuss how i-Connect information should be provided for them. This may be through a separate payroll file or by linking the councillor payroll data to your main payroll submission using an MPP i-Connect file.

3.     Work on the McCloud Remedy is now complete for all active, deferred and pensioner members.

The Fund runs training sessions to support contributing and potential members. In October 2026, we will run the following courses (2 sessions per topic).

Find out more -  https://www.eastsussexpensionfund.org/your-pension/paying-in/free-pension-training/

Please share this link with your employees, so that they can book onto future courses. If any employers would prefer face-to-face training for their members, then please email [email protected] with your request.

Employer role training

The Local Government Association have recently launched dates for their employer role training courses – see links below.

• Employer Role training – Online 24 September 2026 (1 place remaining)

• Employer Role training – Online 27 October 2026

• Employer Role training – Online 26 November 2026

For any further enquiries, please email [email protected].

The Fund offers a range of support material for employers. Here’s a reminder…

Appointing a payroll provider - Find out about responsibilities you can delegate and what you need to tell us when appointing a payroll provider.

Employer Fact Card 26/27 Scheme year - A handy document with reminders of all things important to employers of the LGPS.

Redundancy fact sheet (for members) - A handy fact sheet for any members facing redundancy detailing the implications on their pension.

Employer Toolkit - It can be daunting as an employer in the LGPS. That is why the Fund provides an Employer Toolkit.

HR guide - This guide sets out the requirements for HR departments of LGPS employers.

Payroll guide - This guide sets out the requirements for payrolls in respect of the LGPS.

Ill health retirement guide - This guide helps employers understand how ill health retirement works in the LGPS. It also details your role in supporting members through the process.

As a Fund, we are committed to supporting our employers to ensure they have the knowledge and training to carry out their responsibilities in administering their members pensions. That’s why we run an Employer Forum annually - this year’s is via Microsoft Teams. Please save the time and date.

The LGPS 31 form is completed monthly by employers to confirm that contributions have been deducted and payments made to the Scheme in line with requirements. Within the form is a certification section. Previously it was a requirement that the S151 Officer or designated S151 Officer completed this section.

This is no longer the case, and employers are now being asked to name a ‘Lead Employer Representative’ or ‘Person with delegated authority'. 

LGPS 31 Form

Guide to completing the LGPS 31 form

Authorised signatory form

We have also made some changes to our authorised signatory form to reflect current information requirements. Completion of this form is mandatory for employers as it provides the Fund with details of key individuals within each employer who we can contact.

We will be contacting all employers in September 26 to refresh what we have on file.

As you may be aware some changes around ‘absences’ related to LGPS Access and Fairness consultation have gone live from April 2026.

To support employers the Fund have provided several new employer toolkit articles:

In addition, we have produced a table that compares pre and post April 2016 procedures for absences.

Absence - pre and post 2026

In September, we will be strengthening the security of Altair systems by introducing Multi-Factor Authentication for employers who use i-Connect.

MFA is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence (or factors) to an authentication mechanism.

MFA protects personal data, which may include personal identification or financial assets, from being accessed by an unauthorised third party that may have been able to discover, for example, a single password.

What does this mean for i-Connect Users?

Once a correct username and password are submitted into i-Connect, the user will also be prompted to enter an additional piece of information. Initially, this will take the form of a One-Time Passcode (OTP) (a six-digit code that is valid for a brief period). The user will need to enter the code into i-Connect before they can access the system. We will email all i-Connect contacts when this is in place.

i-Connect contact review

In addition, in October we will embark on a new annual process where we ask employers to confirm their primary iConnect user, as well as any other users who need iConnect access. This is an audit (best practice) requirement. The employer’s primary i-Connect user is responsible for maintaining an accurate and up-to-date list of i-Connect users.