Agenda item

This report updates the Pensions Board on various pensions administration matters as part of its remit to oversee the administration of the Brent Pension Fund.  This includes the outcome of the statutory re-enrolment process, the upcoming triennial valuation of the fund, annual benefit statements for 2019 and an update on the engagement with The Pensions Regulator.

The Pensions Board received a report which updated on various pension administration matters as part of its remit to oversee the administration of the Brent Pension Fund.  Mr Ravinder Jassar (Head of Finance) gave a summary of the main aspects of the updates covering the outcome of the statutory re-enrolment process, the upcoming triennial valuation of the fund, annual benefit statements for 2019 and an update on the engagement with TPR.

Mr Jassar informed the Board that 156 staff were enrolled into an eligible pension scheme of which 150 staff were enrolled into the LGPS, 2 staff were enrolled into the NHS pension scheme and 4 staff were enrolled into the Teachers’ pension scheme  A total of 71 opt-outs had been received across the LGPS and NHS schemes.  Members also heard that as part of the commitment to improve engagement with employers and following feedback from employers, a number of tailored training programmes had been arranged in March 2019. The training, which would cover a number of strategic topics, would be delivered through four sessions split over two days starting on 25th March.

Mr Jassar explained that every three years, a formal valuation of the whole Fund was required to be carried out under Regulation 62 (1) of LGPS Regulations 2013.  The valuation aimed to assess and examine the ongoing financial position of the Fund and to value the assets and liabilities of each individual employer and the pension fund as a whole, with a view to setting employer contribution rates. This, amongst others, would ensure that each employer’s liabilities were as close to fully funded as possible over the agreed recovery period outlined in the Funding Strategy Statement (FSS). In preparation for the triennial valuation, the Fund’s actuary (Hymans Robertson), would be commencing early modelling on contribution rates with the work on the valuation commencing from July 2019, following the completion of the data cleanse project by LPP.  The results were expected to be received around the final quarter of 2019, following which a programme of employer liaison would commence, including a formal consultation, on the draft FSS.

Members were advised that it was the scheme manager’s statutory responsibility to issue an annual  benefit statement (ABS) to all eligible active and deferred members by 31 August each year.  In relation to active members, the scheme manager had historically had a number of issues with regards to the production of ABS. These issues included missing data on year-end returns, queries from year-end returns not being resolved on time and not being notified of starters and leavers.  A deadline of 30 April 2019 had been set for year-end returns to be submitted to LPP to ensure sufficient time to resolve any queries and ensure production of ABS within the required timeframe. The dedicated training session had been arranged to support employers through this process and an online portal would be made available for all employers whereby data would be submitted on a monthly basis rather than an annual basis via year end returns.  In addition, the scheme manager and LPP would be closely monitoring this project as part of the monthly performance meetings.

The outcome of the 2018 ABS rollout was also discussed as the proposal previously presented to the Pension Board in December 2018 had changed with respect to active members.  It was the scheme managers understanding that of the small number of active members that did not receive an ABS, a manual statement of benefits would be issued as soon as outstanding queries were resolved with employers.  LPP has subsequently informed the scheme manager that while this is possible on a case by case basis it would be challenging to do for all of these members due to the resources currently allocated to delivering business as usual, the data cleanse project and the backlog of cases project.  Members and the scheme manager were content to agree with the revised approach on the basis that these members were able to receive a statement of their benefits should one be requested and that they would receive an official ABS as part of the 2019 ABS rollout.  It was considered that this revised approach did not materially change the basis of the previous decision, made in accordance with the Breaches Policy, to not report this to TPR as a material breach.

The Board was advised that the internal audit of the pension fund had concluded that the issues identified and the resulting recommendations were successfully implemented and that the service was no longer a cause for concern.  Furthermore, measures had been put in place to ensure that the issues did not re-occur.  Mr Jassar continued that since TPR informed him that they would be conducting in depth engagement to discuss governance and administration of the scheme, five meetings had been held and a wrap up meeting was planned to be held at the end of March 2019.  As a result of the detailed feedback on various topics received from the meetings, a number of actions with regards to improving the governance of the scheme as set out within the report, had been agreed.

In welcoming the updates, the Board thanked the scheme manager and his team of officers for the work undertaken and RESOLVED to note the update.