Agenda item

This report updates the Pensions Board on various pension administration matters as part of its remit to oversee the administration of the Brent Pension Fund.

Mr Saagar Raithatha (Brent Council - Senior Finance Analyst) introduced the report updating the Pension Board on various pension administration matters as part of its remit to oversee the administration of the Brent Pension Fund.

In considering the report, the Board noted:

·                The Pension Administration performance update, as detailed within section 3 of the report.

·                The Annual Benefit Statement (ABS) update, as detailed within section 4 of the report.  As part of the update members were advised that the statement provided a breakdown of pension benefits for all eligible, active and deferred members, with a deadline for being issued of 31^st August each year. Scheme employers were required to submit an end of year return in order to enable the ABS to be produced, with any delay in submission creating a risk to the ABS being issued within the deadline.  Members were updated that following publication of the report, three employers were still to submit their end of year return with the Fund and LPP continuing to closely monitor the position and work with the employers to ensure submission of their returns within the necessary deadline.  Of those outstanding one was awaiting clarification on minor data queries and it was expected that the other submissions would be submitted shortly, with officers maintaining engagement to ensure the final deadline was met.  Members noted that the initial deadline for submission of the employer submissions had been 30 April 2021 and whilst noting the ongoing work to secure the final submissions, they were also concerned at the impact of these delays.

·                The Local Pension Partnership Administration (LPP) business update, as detailed within section 5 of the report.

John Crowhurst (Operations Director, LPP) then provided the Board with a presentation outlining key business and performance updates within the LPP Quarterly & Annual Brent Pension Fund Administration Report.  Key issues highlighted were as follows:

Referring firstly to the Quarterly Administration report, members were advised this covered the period from January 21- March 21. It was noted that performance overall had been good with the majority of SLAs being met.  Whilst noting that performance in relation to the retirements SLA had fallen below target, the Board were assured that this did not materially affect any payments being made.  Another area of performance identified related to the average waiting time to contact the helpdesk. The Board noted that this was related to the increase in calls about bereavements and retirements during the pandemic with access to that part of the helpdesk prioritised, which had an impact on performance in other areas. Members were advised of the service improvements which had been introduced in order to address this issue and the positive impact these would be expected to have in terms of restoring performance.

Members also noted and welcomed the Pension Regulator scorecard achieved in relation to the accuracy of common and conditional data relating to scheme records, which had shown a significant improvement from the previous quarter.

Moving on to the Service Improvement Plan, the Board’s attention was drawn to the work scheduled to change how retirements were prioritised in order to improve the time to payment, including the work done to make that process more efficient through support and training.  Other initiatives highlighted included the launch of member video guides and educational videos along with progress on the Guaranteed Minimum Pension reconciliation project designed to review and address any discrepancies between HMRC’s and Brent’s data. 

In addition, the Board was also provided with an update on the change in software supplier for the LPP pension administration system, with the current system due to be replaced by Civica’s Universal Pensions Management system.  Members were advised of the measures being taken to ensure no disruption in the day to day performance of the system, which was expected to go live in September 2022, with the Board keen to ensure that the data transfer process was also managed securely and accurately in order to maintain integrity. It was noted that further updates would continue to be provided for the Board as the project progressed and in order to provide assurance on the transfer of the administrative systems and data.

Members were then invited to ask questions, with the issues raised summarised below: 

·                In response to a question regarding how staff on the helpdesk were coping in light of the additional bereavement calls, the Board were advised that it had been a busy and challenging period for the help desk.  Measures taken to alleviate the pressure had included the recruitment of a number of newly trained staff into the business, which had been supported by a programme of staff engagement and wellbeing surveys and this had generated a positive response.

·                In response to a query regarding data migration, the Board were advised of the measures in place to ensure that the quality of data was maintained and its migration was undertaken securely, with further assurance to be provided as part of the ongoing migration and data cleanse process.

·                It was asked what advice was available to scheme members seeking further details on retirement and the links with the Council’s HR department.  In response the Board was advised of the support available through LPP in terms of the provision of retirement advice and guidance co-ordinated through their engagement officers. 

·                Details were also sought on the availability of any benchmarking data in relation to the Pension Regulator scores on the accuracy of common and conditional data.  Whilst comparator scores were currently not published, the Board were advised of the most common challenges faced including deferred addresses and missing leaver forms.

As there were no further questions from Members, the Chair thanked John Crowhurst and officers for the update and it was RESOLVED that the report be noted