Agenda item

Report of the Director of People Services.

(Agenda Item 5 on the Agenda Pack)

5.1      The Board received an update on the progress of the project to transfer the pension administration service from Surrey County Council (SCC) to Hampshire County Council’s Pension Service (HPS).  The Board noted that the project was now in CLOSE with mop-up/handover activities being compiled and moved to being managed through business as usual (BAU) activity.  The Board also noted that all project costs were as expected, and a summary of the budget costs would be produced for the next meeting.

5.2      The Board heard that the Engagement and Comms Plan had been delivered as per the timetable with only one issue identified post ‘go live’ regarding a bulk email exercise that had failed to include all the email addresses that were included in the exercise.  The Board was pleased that this error had been rectified and the lessons learnt would be used to improve comms planning now and in the future. 

5.3      The Board noted that there had been a good continuity of service throughout the transition period and that the “read only” WCC Pension data being kept on Altair on Surrey servers would be deleted at the end of January 2022 in line with GDPR. The Board welcomed the news that the Surrey exit costs were 70% of the revised budget and 76% of the original budget, with an appropriate exit cost of 54K.

5.4      The Board was pleased that over 2000 members had already signed up to the HPS Member Portal and that employers were able to self-service via the Employee Hub or correspond and complete their administration via secure email to HPS’ employer email address.

5.5      The Board discussed the large amount of backlogged casework that Surrey had handed over to HPS who had agreed to absorb as much as possible in their usual BAU activity but had also indicated that there might be additional and unknown costs to remove the backlog following assessment The Chairman and board members expressed their concern at this further example of unsatisfactory performance by Surrey and asked that the Board be updated at its March meeting on what steps are being taken to recover extra costs incurred by Westminster.The Board was reassured that comprehensive governance had been put in place to monitor the contract and that an update on the backlogged casework would be given at the next meeting. 

5.6      The Board noted that the Pension Committee had agreed to a further 12 months subscription of the current COWPF website www.wccpensionfund.co.uk whilst a thorough review into requirements and options would be brought to the Board later in the year.  The Board highlighted the importance of all members having a good digital experience and looked forward to receiving a report on suitable options for the implementation of a very user-friendly system/website. 

5.7      The Board congratulated and thanked officers for all their hard work on the transfer of the pension service to Hampshire Pension Services.

5.8      ACTION: That the Board be updated at its March meeting on what steps are being taken to recover the extra costs incurred by Westminster due to the unsatisfactory performance by Surrey.

5.9      RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.