Issue - meetings

The Board is asked to consider the Administration Report from the 21 July 2021 Pensions Committee by the Director of Finance and Support Services.

7.1        The Board received a report by the Director of Finance and Support Services from the 21 July Pensions Committee meeting (copy appended to the signed minutes).

7.2        Tara Atkins introduced the report and summarised the key points.

7.3        It was confirmed that –

·         99.97% of the deferred annual benefit statements were now complete; only eight records had yet to be finalised so the team was ahead of target.

·         the team had now commenced work with regard to the active members; just over 97.5% complete.

·         McCloud data collection requirements – subsequent to undertaking annual returns work, the team was now working on these requirements.

·         Member portal registrations – total registrations to-date reported, rather than current registrations.

·         Next report will also include quarterly and annual complaints and compliments

·         The Data Improvement Plan closed on 31 March 2021 was specific to the transfer of the pension fund. Ongoing data improvement is business as usual.

7.4        The Board commented that the pension calculator on the on-line portal was very useful.

7.5        Resolved – That the Board noted –

·         the update with particular attention to the work associated with end of year returns and the publication of Annual Benefit Statements to members; and

·         the approach agreed by the Director of Finance and Support Services in relation to receipt of a Voluntary Scheme Pays election.

Report by the Director of Finance and Support Services.

The Committee is asked to note the update with particular attention to the work associated with end of year returns and the publication of Annual Benefit Statements to members.  The Committee is also asked to note the approach agreed by the Director of Finance and Support Services in relation to receipt of a Voluntary Scheme Pays election.

8.1        The Committee considered a report by the Director of Finance and Support Services (copy appended to the signed minutes).

8.2        Katharine Eberhart introduced the report and confirmed that all employers had completed their annual returns.  Work was continuing with McCloud and officers were awaiting receipt of statutory regulations to proceed.  There had been no breaches requiring reporting to the Regulator.

8.3        The Committee made comments including those that follow.

•      The Chairman reported that the Pension Advisory Board had requested that future reports include resolution outcomes and compliments received.  – Rachel Wood confirmed this would be reflected.

•      The Committee praised the performance of Hampshire Pension Services, particularly during the pandemic.

•      Queried progress on the data improvement plan.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that the current focus was on historic leaver forms which would be completed in October.  The data improvement would then move into business as usual cleansing.

•      Sought clarity on the Service Level Agreement (SLA) targets and if they were set at an appropriate level.  – The Chairman reported that when the administration was transferred to Hampshire Pension Service the standard SLAs were used.  The Committee had previously looked at the SLA levels and felt it was important to have realistic and acceptable targets.  Rachel Wood added that officers were looking into benchmarks to see how the administration performance compared to others.  Analysis on this could be provided when the work was complete.  It was confirmed that in most cases that SLA targets were completed under the target threshold.

•      Sought clarity on McCloud work and if return issues were linked to particular type of employer.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that it was a range of employers and that individual conversations would be taking place to help with any difficulties.

•      Queried if late payments were linked to a particular type of employer.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that it was not a systemic issue.

8.4        Resolved – that the Committee notes the update with particular attention to the work associated with end of year returns and the publication of Annual Benefit Statements to members.  The Committee also notes the approach agreed by the Director of Finance and Support Services in relation to receipt of a Voluntary Scheme Pays election.