Agenda item

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

John Smith (Pensions Manager, Brent Council) introduced the report from the Corporate Director Finance & Resources outlining the performance of the Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) against the Service Level Agreement’s (SLA’s) during the period 1 October 2025 to 31 December 2025. In introducing the report, he highlighted the following key points before inviting Emma Hebblethwaite (Head of Member Services, LPPA) to provide a more detailed update:

·   Performance figures had improved across the board, with none of the processes falling below the 95% SLA threshold. The position was described as generally stable.

·   Helpdesk performance had improved, with 87.8% of calls answered within three minutes, an improvement on the previous quarter, albeit noted as seasonal in nature.

·   Data quality continued to improve incrementally, with common data advancing to 96.6% and conditional data to 87%.

·   The McCloud remedy project remained flagged amber, with further validation taking place and LPPA working on a path towards green.   This included a focus on eligibility ahead of processing bulk calculations and payments along with processes being refined benefits in payment and transfers being prioritised. Progress was noted in continuing to deliver remedy payments and UPM functionality, notwithstanding some recent technical developments that had complicated the position. The latest data indicated that Brent’s pension fund was on track to include underpinned data for all affected members in the 2025–26 Annual Benefit Statements.

·   The Pensions Dashboard project was flagged green, with LPPA having successfully connected to the ecosystem in December 2025. Project planning for stage two was underway.

·   An employer forum had been held on 18 November 2025, which had been well received. Highlights included the actuary’s presentation of employer contribution rates and along with a presentation from LPPA’s employer engagement team. A range of training courses were being made available to employers and officers, including LPPA’s own training suite, courses run by Affinity Connect, and internally run pension training sessions, which had proved particularly popular, with 82 and 56 attendees at the last two sessions respectively.

Following introduction of the report, the Chair welcomed Emma Hebblethwaite (Head of Member Services, LPPA) accompanied by Emily Booth (recently appointed as a Client Relationship Manager at LPPA) as the Council’s administration service provider, who provided further detailed updates regarding recent pensions administration performance, summarised below:

·   SLA performance had remained consistently above 95% across all key processes throughout Q3, maintaining the positive position seen in Q2.

·   Helpdesk wait times and satisfaction scores continued to be strong, with average call wait times remaining below the four-minute target. Satisfaction feedback was used as part of quality assurance and staff development within the contact centre.

·   In relation to complaints, Emma Hebblethwaite outlined the approach taken through LPPA’s internal complaints board, which reviewed approximately 10% of all completed complaints across all clients on a root cause analysis basis, with senior representation in place to drive lessons learned and service improvements. One example given was an improvement to guidance around LPPA’s secure portal, Mimecast, following complaints from members who had mistaken communications for spam, which had effectively eliminated that category of complaint. For Brent specifically, 80% of complaints received in the last six months had been resolved within 30 days, which was considered a positive position. The remaining 20% generally reflected the complexity of the process involved, such as retirements or transfer cases dependent on third parties. The overall volume of complaints represented approximately 0.35% of SLA processes.

·   Service improvement work had included significant automation across retirements, refunds and deferments, with approximately 50% of cases in those areas now processed automatically. This was enabling the team to focus greater capacity on complex cases. Examples of improved member experience included retirement quotes being delivered in as little as 45 seconds and pensions processed to payment within a working week of initial contact. An improved leaver form for employers had also been launched shortly before Christmas, which was already reducing the need to revert to employers for clarification.

·   The Pensions Dashboard project was progressing well, with stage two planning underway. LPPA had a growing member panel of approximately 4,000 members across all clients, who were planned to be involved in testing ahead of go-live.

·   On the McCloud remedy, LPPA remained on track to include underpinned data in the Annual Benefit Statements to 31 March 2026, with retrospective payment cases due to be picked up in Q1 (April to June 2026).

Following the update, the Chair invited comments from Board members, with questions and responses summarised below: 

·   A question was raised on the main causes of Brent-specific complaints and any lessons learned. Emma Hebblethwaite advised that whilst not have the specific data available at the meeting the general theme across LPPA’s complaints tended to relate to the management of member expectations, particularly around process timescales. John Smith advised that there had been 12 new complaint cases since the last Pension Board accruing at a rate of 4 per month with the number of complaints received during the quarter having been analysed by case type within section 3.3.8 of the report.  Whilst this represented an increase compared to the previous quarter an assurance was provided that overall numbers remained relatively small.

·   Referring to the customer satisfaction tables in the report, a member noted that across approximately 437 retirements there were 13 dissatisfaction scores, suggesting only around 3% of members were dissatisfied with the retirement process. Emma Hebblethwaite confirmed that satisfaction levels had been improving over the previous 12 to 18 months and that the survey response rate, while lower than total case volumes, was considered good by industry standards. It was noted that those who were dissatisfied were more likely to complete a survey, making the positive response rate all the more encouraging.

·   A question was raised on whether dependant pension cases were captured in the retirement figures and how that process was measured. Emma Hebblethwaite confirmed that the retirement figures related solely to members moving from active or deferred status to pensioner in their own right and did not include dependants. She explained that the death and dependant process was among the most complex administered, potentially involving questions of next of kin, nomination forms, children from previous relationships, and whether notification had come from a family member or a returned bank payment. Customer satisfaction was not formally surveyed in this area given its sensitive nature, though the subject had been discussed. John Smith added that straightforward cases – for example where there was a clear nomination form, a will, and a surviving spouse – could be dealt with efficiently, but others could become very complex and occasionally left the fund to contend with insufficient evidence and or deep-seated family disagreements.

·   A further observation was made that some member dissatisfaction arose not from errors in administration but from expectations exceeding entitlement. It was noted that where members felt their case had not been handled correctly, they retained the right to approach the Pensions Ombudsman, though very few cases reached that stage.

With no further questions raised the Chair thanked Emma Hebblethwaite and John Smith for the update and it was RESOLVED that the report be noted.