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Agenda item

Pension Administration Update

Report of the Director of People Services.

Minutes:

4.1      Sarah Hay (Senior Pensions and Payroll Adviser, People Services) introduced the report and advised that the key performance indicators (KPIs) were generally good, with the only recent issue being some delays to retirement options being issued due to a large number of retirements from a care provider who were part of the Fund. Work was also under way concerning new staff in respect of the 2019 triennial evaluation. With regards to overseas pensioners, Sarah Hay advised that five had now been reinstated, meaning that 17 remained suspended. The Committee heard that discussions were taking place amongst officers over what service the Council wanted before approaching Surrey County Council (SCC) over renewing the Section 101 Agreement on pension administration services. SCC were also shortly due to appoint a new Pension Fund Manager and Members would be updated once the appointment was confirmed.

 

4.2      Eleanor Dennis (Lead Pensions Specialist, People Services) updated the Committee on data cleansing and advised that the common data score was now 89.9%. Costings for status 2 project were being finalised and updates had been carried out on ‘gone away’ addresses. Further progress was expected over the next two weeks.

 

4.3      The Committee noted that JLT were no longer involved with data cleansing and that ITM were currently assisting the Council with this. It was asked whether ITM would continue to work with the Council longer term on this matter. Members commented that outstanding issues needed to be addressed in any new Section 101 Agreement with SCC. Members asked what the level of staff turnover at SCC was and were their staff incentives for performance. Members welcomed the progress made with regards to overseas pensioners, however in respect of red or amber KPIs, the importance of minimising the impact on individuals was emphasised, particularly where this resulted in them experiencing any delays in pension payments. It was also queried whether the performance of the KPIs recorded were accurate.

 

4.4      In reply to issues raised by Committee, Sarah Hay commented that it useful that the Council had another source to review its data in ITM, although their continued involvement longer term would be subject to further discussions. Sarah Hay added that overall the Council’s data was relatively good. There had been improvements in SCC’s performance compared to three years ago, however changes in leadership necessitated a need for discussions on the future direction of travel. There were also more SCC staff available for pension administration functions. Sarah Hay advised that staff turnover at SCC was of some concern, however she was unsure as to whether there were incentives available in respect of performance. Where there were any instances of delayed payments to individuals, Sarah Hay advised that SCC were chased to ensure that payments were made promptly and to prevent such instances occurring in the future. With regards to the accuracy of the performance of KPIs, Sarah Hay advised that she was not receiving complaints from scheme members and so this suggested that the figures were accurate.

 

4.5      Lee Witham (Director of People Services) added that the Council continued to keep a careful eye on the KPIs and visits to SCC had taken place to discuss issues.  He advised that around three years ago, scheme members had reported a number of problems with their pensions, however the situation had much improved since. Delays in payments were now very rare, although any delay was unacceptable. Lee Witham acknowledged that an amber or red KPI may impact significantly upon an individual and every action needed to be taken to minimise this.

 

4.6      The Committee requested a report updating Members on the situation regarding incomplete cases and costs regarding the data cleansing exercise carried out by JLT, who were no longer involved in the process. In addition, the report was to include an update on arrangements with ITM and whether they were to take on data cleansing on a longer term basis.

Supporting documents: