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Monthly
administration report
December 2024
1
Contents
1. Summary ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 2
2. Background ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 2
3. Membership ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................ 2
4. Administration performance................................ ................................ ................................ .... 3
5. Call and email volumes ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 5
6. Online services ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 6
7. Employer Services ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 7
8. 2024 End of Year timetable................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 8
9. Unprocessed historic casework ................................ ................................ ................................ 8
10. Preserved Refunds ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 9
11. McCloud ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ 10
12. Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP) ................................ ................................ .................. 10
13. 2024/2025 Software Development ................................ ................................ ........................ 10
14. Audit ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 11
15. Scheme legislation updates ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 12
16. Employer and Member Communications ................................ ................................ ............... 12
17. Compliments and Complaints ................................ ................................ ................................ 12
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1. Summary
1.1. The purpose of this report is to update the London Borough of Hillingdon with the current
position of their local government pension scheme membership; performance against
service level agreements and to provide other important and current information about the
administration of the London Borough of Hillingdon Local Government Pension Fund.
2. Background
2.1. Hampshire Pension Services administer the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) on
behalf of the London Borough of Hillingdon (LBH) with effect from 27 September 2021.
2.2. Hampshire Pension Services also administer the LGPS for Hampshire County Council, West
Sussex County Council and Westminster City Council; the Fire Pension Schemes for both
West Sussex and Hampshire, and the Police Pension Schemes for Hampshire.
3. Membership
3.1. The table below details the number of members against status for each of the Local
Government pension schemes and is correct as of the date this report was prepared. To
support the monitoring of change in membership numbers, the table now compares the
membership detailed in the OBC with the current month to show the total growth in
membership since the start of the partnership.
Active* Deferred Pensioner Preserved
Refunds**
Total
OBC 9,020 11,400 7,036 - 27,456
December 2024 9,061 12,533 8,601 1,703 31,898
Growth 0.45% 9.93% 22.24% - 16.17%
*Leavers which are waiting to be processed are included in the active membership. However, the
OBC deferred figure included both 2,045 leavers waiting to be processed and 1,256 preserved
refunds.
**The preserved refund members are included for completeness but are not counted for the
purposes of reporting membership to the Pensions Regulator and DLUHC (previously MHCLG).
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4. Administration performance
4.1. Hampshire Pension Services’ performance against agreed service level agreements for key
processes are monitored monthly. They are calculated based on the number of working days
taken to complete the process and are adjusted for time that we are unable to proceed, due
to requiring input from the member or third party.
4.2. The table below shows performance from 1st December – 31st December 2024. The service
level agreement (SLA) for all casework is 15 working days, except for deferred benefits which
are processed in 30 working days, and rejoiners which are processed in 20 working days.
Time to Complete
Type of Case 0-5
days
6-10
days
11-
15
days
16-
20
days
21-
30
days
31-40
days
Total %
completed
on time
Average
days to
complete
process
Total
Cases
(previous
month)
%
completed
on time
(previous
month)
Active Retirement 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 100% 3 5 100%
Deferred Retirement 16 8 2 0 0 0 26 100% 5 19 100%
Estimates 13 20 5 0 0 0 38 100% 7 22 100%
Refunds 5 17 0 0 0 0 22 100% 8 19 100%
Deferred Benefits 3 3 0 1 53 0 60 100% 25 63 100%
Interfunds and
Transfers In
5 2 3 0 0 0 10 100% 7 12 100%
Interfunds and
Transfers Out
1 17 2 0 0 0 20 100% 9 19 100%
Divorce Quotes 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 100% 11 1 100%
Divorce Actuals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100% 0 100%
Rejoiners/Aggregation 1 4 6 5 0 0 16 100% 13 9 100%
Deaths 7 1 2 0 0 0 10 100% 4 12 100%
GRAND TOTAL 58 73 22 6 53 0 212 100% 181 100%
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4.3. Due to current software restrictions, the following casework can only be reported as total
numbers processed in the month.
Type of Case Total number of cases in the month
New Joiners 84
New beneficiary benefits in payment 8
4.4. The table below shows outstanding work as of 31st December 2024. The time outstanding
reflects the time from date of receipt of the initiating request, and includes time whilst cases
are on hold pending further information. Work which has been pended is monitored by the
team and is also pushed for review by the system at pre-determined intervals. This means that
all pended casework is regularly reviewed, and actions taken to ensure it can be moved and
processed.
4.5. Those cases which currently exceed the agreed service level agreement are on hold waiting
for information from the member, their employer or another party and the time taken to
process will be adjusted once the work has been completed.
*Estimates include all ‘quote’ calculations for retirement, transfers, divorce, refunds,
dependants quotes and interfunds.
Time Outstanding
Type of Case 0-5
days
6-10
days
11-15
days
16-20
days
21-30
days
31+
days
Total Total
Outstanding
(previous
month)
Active Retirement 1 0 3 1 0 1 5 1
Deferred Retirement 2 5 7 7 3 6 30 24
Estimates* 3 11 2 7 13 65 101 121
Refunds 1 2 6 5 0 0 14 8
Deferred Benefits 1 7 5 13 124 68 218 144
Interfunds and Transfers In 1 1 0 2 8 106 118 128
Interfunds and Transfers Out 2 0 2 2 1 1 8 11
Divorce Quotes 0 1 0 0 0 10 11 10
Divorce Actuals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rejoiners/Aggregation 5 3 7 14 15 20 64 45
Deaths 2 3 0 2 1 34 42 45
GRAND TOTAL 17 33 29 52 165 310 606 536
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4.6. We have included a tracker below which monitors the movement in work outstanding month
on month.
5. Call and email volumes
5.1. The table below sets out the call statistics for Hillingdon for the month of December 2024:
Calls Received 123
Calls Answered 119
Calls Answered Percentage 96.75%
Calls Abandoned 4
Abandoned Percentage 3.25%
Average Wait Time 53 seconds
Calls Answered Within 5 Minutes 115
Calls answered waiting for longer than 5 mins 4
Percentage Of Calls Answered Within 5 Minutes 96.63%
5.2. Abandoned calls are caused by the member ending the call before we can answer, and in
some cases, this can be because they have heard one of our automatic messages asking
them to visit our website or Portal.
5.3. The total number of calls received were 2,372 and the statistics above are included in this
number.
5.4. Our Pension Customer Support Team (PCST) record the number of emails received into our
main Pension Services inbox. The table below shows the combined (Hampshire, West
Sussex, Westminster, and Hillingdon) volumes, for the current and previous month.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Jun-24 Jul-24 Aug-24 Sep-24 Oct-24 Nov-24 Dec-24
Total cases
Work in progress month on month tracker
Active Retirement Deferred Retirement Estimates
Refunds Deferred Benefits Interfunds and Transfers In
Interfunds and Transfers Out Divorce Quotes Divorce Actuals
Rejoiners/Aggregation Deaths
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5.5. Of the emails responded to by PCST, 153 of these were for Hillingdon members.
5.6. In December 2024 we received 77 ‘My Messages’ from Hillingdon members via the member
portal, which are dealt with via our normal 5 working day response time.
6. Online services
Member Portal
6.1. Active, Deferred, Preserved Refund and Pensioner members of the Hillingdon Local
Government pension scheme have the ability to register for our Member Portal and update
their personal details, death grant nominations, and bank details; securely view annual benefit
statements, payslips and P60’s; run online voluntary retirement estimates; and complete their
membership option, retirement declaration and refund claim forms online.
6.2. The table below shows the total number of current registrations for each status as of 31st
December 2024.
6.3. The table below sets out the number of Member Portal log ins, for the current month and
previous month for comparison.
Month Active Deferred Pensioner
November 2024 613 568 283
December 2024 311 350 267
Month Total Emails
Received
Response from
PCST
Forms and Emails
Forwarded to
another team*
November 2024 5,698 4,730 968
December 2024 4,792 3,781 1,011
Status
Registrations
to date
% of total
membership
Registrations to
30/11/2024
% of total
membership
Active 5,174 57.10% 5,151 56.44%
Deferred 5,383 42.95% 5,233 41.65%
Pensioner 4,050 47.09% 4,005 46.07%
TOTAL 14,607 48.38% 14,389 47.54%
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6.4. The table below shows the number of opt outs of the Member Portal for each membership
status. Comparing the number of registrations and opt outs to the total membership allows
us to identify the number of members who have not engaged via either route.
Cyber Security
6.5. External penetration testing was completed by Sapphire in December, and their report has not
highlighted and serious or high vulnerabilities. 4 Medium and 9 Low vulnerabilities have been
identified and we will be working with our colleagues in IT and at Civica to mitigate or address
these over the next 6 months.
7. Employer Services
Employer training
7.1. There were no employer training sessions provided in December.
New and Exiting employers
7.2. 116 active scheme employers as of 31st December 2024.
• No new employers
• 1 pending exit – ServiceMaster – Belomore
• 5 pending admitted bodies and 2 possible pending academy conversions
• 8 employers changing payroll provider (919 members)
• 9 employers changing payroll provider (505 members)
Annual returns and Employer Performance
7.3. During October, data validation exercises were sent to 66 employers, who had a red data
quality rating. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that employers check they are up to
date with starter/leaver notifications to support with a better outcome in 2025. The deadline
for declarations to be received was 15 December 2024.
7.4. As of 31 December 2024 we had received 41 fully completed declarations – 25 are
outstanding including 14 incomplete declarations that had been sent. HPS will continue to
Engagement Active Deferred Pensioner Total
Portal 5,174 5,383 4,050 14,607
Opt out 38 126 1,883 2,047
No contact 3,849 7,024 2,668 13,541
Total 9,061 12,533 8,601 30,195
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chase outstanding declarations and will escalate any that remain outstanding to the Fund at
the end of January 2025.
7.5. In December 2024, a draft 2025 annual return template was sent to employers to help them
prepare for the next submission.
8. 2024 End of Year timetable
8.1. The timetable of 2024 year end processes has been completed.
8.2. Active Benefit Statements – The production of active benefit statements has been ongoing,
throughout December, and the final position is as follows.
8.3. Life Certificates – we have emailed and written to all overseas members in November, asking
them to complete our life certificate process. They have been offered two options:
• To use the online identification and verification (ID&V) process – both the underlying
technology used, and the online process has been enhanced over the last year.
• To complete the life certificate form – as has been available previously.
220 overseas members were contacted, of which 45 have successfully completed the online
ID&V process, and 76 have chosen to complete the paper-based process, so far. The payroll
team will continue to monitor responses, and pensions will be suspended from February 2025 if
no contact has been made.
8.4. The 2025 end of year timetable will be shared in January’s report.
9. Unprocessed historic casework
9.1. At the point of onboarding, there were 3,840 unprocessed leavers – the date of leaving for
these members was prior to 1st September 2021.
9.2. As of 1st January 2025, the unprocessed leavers position is as follows.
Total Number
of Statements
Required
Total Number
of Statements
Produced
Total Number
of Statements
Missing
Percentage of
Statements
Produced
Total Number
Of Statements
produced as
at 31st August
Total Number
of statements
missing as at
31st August
Percentage Of
Statements
Produced as
at 31st August
9,770 9,735 35 99.64% 9,681 89 99.09%
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*Included in the ‘Leavers processed, and records finalised by HPS’.
9.3. Of the 375 cases outstanding, 268 of these are with employers who Dataplan provide the
payroll service for – we continue to encourage Dataplan to respond to our queries.
9.4. The top 5 employers with outstanding leavers are as follows:
10. Preserved Refunds
10.1. We have written to all members with a preserved refund, who left prior to 1 April 2014 – as
their refund is not limited to being paid within 5 years. The current position of this project is
as follows:
Unprocessed Leavers transferred from Surrey, at point of onboarding.
3,840
Additional unprocessed leavers identified since onboarding 318
Total unprocessed leavers 4,158
Leavers processed, and records finalised by HPS 3,783
Leavers processed in the last month* 3
Outstanding leavers to be processed 375
Employer Number of leavers outstanding
Swakeleys Academy 21
Harlington School 13
William Byrd Primary School 11
Eden Academy – Moorcroft 10
GN Acad Trust - Guru Nanak 10
10
11. McCloud
11.1. A full assessment of member eligibility against MHCLG’s statutory guidance, issued in June
2024, will be included in January’s report, following the delivery of Civica’s eligibility
reporting tool on 9th January.
11.2. An online version of the public service pensions history form – available through the
Member Portal – has been implemented and processes within UPM, to handle receipt of
both paper and online forms have been put in place. We have also set up a process to
handle requests from other public service pension schemes, for confirmation of service in
the LGPS.
12. Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP)
12.1. 'How to get a registration code' guidance has been issued by the PDP - before applying to
connect to the pension dashboard, providers and schemes need to obtain a registration
code from the regulator. We will be reviewing the guidance over the next month and will
contact partners when we need them to obtain the registration code.
12.2. We are waiting for an update from Civica, in relation to the testing process they must
complete as an integrated service provider (ISP) – as explained previously, until the PDP have
completed the testing process with ISP’s they cannot deliver the software to scheme
administrators. We are paying close attention to any further delays and will raise concerns
with TPR and the PDP where necessary.
13. 2024/2025 Software Development
13.1. The improved online identification and verification (ID&V) process has proven successful –
across all schemes administered, over 400 overseas pensioners have successfully completed
the process and passed the checks.
Pre-1 April 2014 preserved refund members 72
Number of members sent letters 72
Claim forms received 5
Refunds processed 5
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13.2. Work to improve internal processes which support the member portal ‘My Message’ facility
have been completed and are proving beneficial to staff.
13.3. We are in the process of finalising the software development for 2025/26 with consideration
to other priorities next year – McCloud and Pensions Dashboards – and feedback received
from members throughout the year, and from employer focus groups, to inform some of the
Member Portal and Employer Hub development. The development plan will be shared in
January’s partnership report.
14. Audit
14.1. The position of our 2024/25 pension audits are as follows:
Audit Area Timing
Pension leavers
Audit of the controls to ensure accurate, prompt and complete administration
of pension leavers, including the production of on-going annual benefit
statements within agreed timescales, by HPS.
Draft report
received –
substantial rating.
Pension starters
Review of the control framework to support appropriate, complete and
prompt admission of new starters to the various pension schemes
administered by HPS.
Scoping session
booked for January
2025.
Cyber Security
To provide assurance over the cyber security arrangements within HPS.
Scoping session
completed – audit
process to begin in
January 2025.
Pensions payroll and benefit calculations
Annual review to provide assurance that Hampshire Pension Services’ (HPS)
systems and controls ensure that:-
• Lump sum and on-going pension payments are calculated correctly,
are valid and paid to the correct recipients;
• All changes to on-going pensions are accurate and timely;
• Pension payroll runs are accurate, complete, timely and secure with
all appropriate deductions made and paid over to the relevant bodies.
In progress
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15. Scheme legislation updates
15.1. Legislation updates that have been received during December 2024 for the Local
Government Pension Scheme, are detailed in Appendix 1, including any actions that
Hampshire Pension Services have taken.
16. Employer and Member Communications
16.1. Employer communications - There were no employer communications issued in December.
16.2. Member communications – There were no member communications issued in December.
16.3. Data Protection Breaches – There were no data protection breaches identified in December.
17. Compliments and Complaints
17.1. We did not receive any complaints in December from members of the LBH LGPS.
17.2. We received one compliment in December from a member of the LBH LGPS. Further detail
can be found in Appendix 2.
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