Issue - meetings

The Board is asked to consider the Administration Report from the 25 October 2021 Pensions Committee by the Director of Finance and Support Services.

22.1     The Board received a report by the Director of Finance and Support Services (copy appended to the signed minutes).

22.2     Tara Atkins introduced the report and gave an update on Annual Benefit Statements.  Improvements had been made from last year and 100% of deferred member statements had been produced.  Work was continuing to collect appropriate data from employers to implement the McCloud remedy, with employers who were not engaging being chased.

22.3     The Board made comments including those that follow.

·         Gave praise to Andrew Lowe and his team for the performance targets and thanked officers for including compliments with complaints on the report which had been a previous request by the Board.

·         Sought clarity on the administration team’s onboarding of the London Borough of Hillingdon Pension Fund and if there would be any impact for West Sussex.  – Andrew Lowe confirmed that the onboarding had been discussed with West Sussex officers and that there should be no impact on West Sussex Business as Usual work.  The Chairman confirmed that he had had discussions with officers on this and had received reassurance that there were sufficient resources in place so that West Sussex would not be impacted.  Andrew Lowe confirmed that the membership of the new Partners were generally small.  Rachel Wood confirmed that active conversations were taking place with the administration team to monitor resourcing.

22.4     Resolved – That the Board notes the update.

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 the publication of Annual Benefit Statements and Pension Saving Statements to members.

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

22.2     Andrew Lowe, Head of Pensions, Investments and Borrowing at Hampshire County Council, introduced the report and confirmed that his team was working to produce 100% of the Annual Benefit Statements, but it was unlikely that this would be achieved due to the reliance on employers for the data required.  The team had currently produced 99% of active statements.  Positive engagements were taking place with employers for data to support the McCloud remedy, however there were two employers who were not currently engaging.

22.3     The Committee made comments including those that follow.

a.    Queried the Data Improvement Plan and the resource impact.  – Andrew Lowe explained that a small team was working on the plan and one person had left and so they were looking to fill the vacancy.

b.    Noted the onboard of pension administration for the London Borough of Hillingdon Pension Fund and queried the impact on West Sussex.  – Andrew Lowe confirmed that the go live for this fund has been uneventful and everything has worked well.  It is anticipated that there would be no impact on the West Sussex Pension Fund.

c.    Queried the late contribution payments from two employers and asked if this was an exceptional situation.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that contribution monitoring was done by West Sussex and that the employers involved had a backdated admission which caused a delay to payments. The circumstances were considered to be exceptional and there was no ongoing concern.

d.    Asked how the portal usage compared nationally.  – Rachel Wood explained that the focus was on encouraging large employers to use the employer portal.  It was difficult to provide national comparison as the portal was new and not adopted by all Schemes or with the same functionality.  Andrew Lowe confirmed that in West Sussex there was a 28% usage of the employer portal which was comparable with the Hampshire usage.

22.4     Resolved – that the Committee notes the update with particular attention to the work associated with the publication of Annual Benefit Statements and Pension Saving Statements to members.