Agenda item

Report of the Director of People Services.

4.1       Joanne Meagher (Head of Operational People Services) introduced the report and advised that the only area that had experienced a dip in a performance in the last quarter was retirement options being issued to pension scheme members. She stated that although performance remained within an acceptable level, the area would continue to be closely monitored.

4.2       Jason Bailey (Pension Services Manager, Surrey County Council) explained that the reason for the drop in performance with regard to retirement options was attributable to 2 cases that had been issued 2 days over the target. Most other key performance indicators (KPIs) were rated green and overall performance continued on an upwards trajectory. Jason Bailey added that some staff had been relocated to the Lewes office to help with Westminster pension matters, whilst technical support remained at the Kingston upon Thames office.

4.3       Kim Edwards (Senior Pensions and Payroll Adviser) confirmed that the Annual Benefit Statements had been issued within the 31 August deadline, after BT had managed to bring forward the date for providing data for Surrey County Council (SCC) to be able to undertake this, however both the tri-borough pensions teams and SCC had made considerable effort to ensure the data was of sufficient quality in order to ensure the deadline was met. There had also been discussions between BT and SCC to ensure the data migrated was correct and BT had sent some staff to work with City Council staff. Kim Edwards added that the process for sending out Annual Benefit Statements was expected to go more smoothly next year.

4.4       Members acknowledged the difficulties that SCC, BT and People Services had faced and queried why the number of cases for some of the KPIs were so high, including for example the fact that 184 new joiners had been recorded between June and August. The Chairman sought clarification as to the main reasons for the problems that had been experienced, in particular in relation to data capture and was this an issue prior to SCC taking over pension administration.

4.5       In reply to issues raised by Members, Jason Bailey advised that the reason for the high number of new joiners recorded for the period was due to SCC catching up on more recent data following BT’s creation of a data interface. Other KPIs had a relatively large number of cases because of the timings of the due dates for some of the activities. Jason Bailey advised that the Altair system was due to be upgraded in October which would make the system more user friendly and allow it to be accessed via mobile phones and tablets.

4.6       Ian Hammond (Client Service Director, BT) advised Members that the main reasons for the problems being experienced involved issues concerning whether the data held was correct and was the software configured to calculate this data in the correct way. He acknowledged that it had taken some time to resolve these issues and BT had placed additional resources to assist. Jeremy Beresford (ICF Manager) added that the problems had also been attributable to the lack of the necessary functionality. However, pension scheme members could now access all information through self-service.

4.7       Joanne Meagher stated that the situation had definitely improved since BT had launched the data interface and the whole process of data transfer should now be more straightforward. Kim Edwards added that BT had now created an interface for both starters and leavers and a new interface for leavers was also being tested. She advised that before BT had been used for the payroll, Serco, the previous provider, had used an automated data transfer system that minimised the chances of errors. BT did not have an automated data transfer in place and this had partly been the issue when trying to ensure SCC was receiving the correct data.

4.8       Christopher Smith (Scheme Member Representative, Pension Board and Unison Branch Secretary) was invited to comment and he stated that the situation had definitely improved and he was receiving much less pension administration related complaints from staff. He thanked People Services, SCC and BT for their efforts to address issues and a number outstanding cases had now been resolved. There was still some work to be done concerning staff that had been outsourced, however this was in the process of being resolved. One matter that was being addressed involved staff at Sanctuary Housing whose pensions had been lower due to the basic rate of pay being erroneously used to calculate their payments.

4.9       The Chairman stated that it would have been desirable if BT had an automated data transfer in place when they assumed the contract, however he welcomed progress that had been made over the last few months and thanked SCC, People Services, BT and Christopher Smith for their input. He also welcomed Christopher Smith to raise any further problems reported by staff.

4.10    The Committee noted and endorsed the Pension Administration Strategy.