Agenda and minutes

Surrey Local Firefighters' Pension Board - Thursday, 13 January 2022 12.00 pm

Venue: Remote via Teams

Contact: Joss Butler 

Note: Informal 

Media

Items
No. Item

1/22

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

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    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Richard Jones. Benedict Mulliss acted as a substitute for Richard Jones.

2/22

MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING: pdf icon PDF 204 KB

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    To agree the minutes as a true record of the meeting.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Board agreed that the minutes were an accurate record of the previous meeting. The Chairman noted that the minutes would be formally agreed at the next formal meeting.

3/22

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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    To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

     

    Notes:

    ·         In line with the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, declarations may relate to the interest of the member, or the member’s spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom the member is living as husband or wife, or a person with whom the member is living as if they were civil partners and the member is aware they have the interest.

    ·         Members need only disclose interests not currently listed on the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

    ·         Members must notify the Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting so they may be added to the Register.

    ·         Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    None received.

4/22

QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS

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    To receive any questions or petitions.

     

    Notes:

     

    1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (7 January 2022).

    2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (6 January 2022)

    3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    There were none.

5/22

SURREY LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION BOARD ACTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER pdf icon PDF 312 KB

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    To note the Actions and Recommendations Tracker.  

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Declarations of interest:

     

    None

     

    Witnesses:

    Sally Wilson, Scheme Manager

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    The Chairman introduced the report.

    2.    In regard to Action A1/20, officers highlighted that the date for the Expression of Interest forms to be submitted had now passed. Furthermore, officers raised a point of clarification which was that the number of members who returned an Expression of Interest form was 103 rather than 102.

    3.    In regard to Action A16/20, officers confirmed that the number of people in Priority Group 1 was 11.

    4.    A Member requested an update on ‘10% pensionable pay’ and how it was likely to proceed and whether it was possible to allow scheme members an extension of time to respond to letters sent in December 2021. Officers urged individuals with questions on the matter to contact the pension team directly. Officers further confirmed that there was flexibility on the timeline where appropriate. Officers also agreed to circulate detail and timeline information on the delivery to the different priority groups to members of the Board. The Board noted that they would also receive further detail within the standing Update Report at the next meeting.

    5.    Officers again highlighted that members of the scheme should contact the pension team directly to raise any issues and noted that there was flexibility within the process. The Board requested that the pension team communicate with scheme members in the relevant priority group to highlight this which was agreed.

    6.    Members agreed to close Action A19/20.

     

    Actions/ further information to be provided:

     

    1.    The Scheme Manager agreed to circulate detail and timelines on the delivery to the different priority groups to members of the Board.  

    2.    The Scheme Manager agreed to contact scheme members within relevant priority groups to highlight that the pension team can be contacted directly to deal with any specific issues.

    3.    Members agreed to close Action A19/20.

     

    Recommendations:

     

    The Board noted the action tracker.

6/22

Scheme Management Update Report pdf icon PDF 225 KB

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    The Board has requested an update on Scheme management activities. 

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Declarations of interest:

     

    None

     

    Witnesses:

    Sally Wilson, Head Of Data, Digital & Special Projects

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    Officers introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

    a.    that officers were waiting to see the national reaction to the opening of the modified scheme.

    b.    That, on 29 November 2021, the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) received an update from the Local Government Association (LGA) to confirm that the Home Office had withdrawn its guidance on the Immediate Detriment Framework. The Service had noted the response from the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) to the retraction of the Immediate Detriment Framework, but was waiting for further guidance from the Local Government Authority (LGA) and Nation Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC).

    2.    Members highlighted the success of internal audit review as noted in the report.

     

    Actions/ further information to be provided:

     

    None.

     

    Recommendations:

     

    The Board noted the report.

7/22

XPS UPDATE pdf icon PDF 1 MB

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    To note the XPS Surrey Fire & Rescue Authority Pension Board report.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Declarations of interest:

     

    None

     

    Witnesses:

    Paul Mudd, XPS

    Sally Wilson, Head Of Data, Digital & Special Projects

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    The representative from XPS introduced the report and made the following points:

    a.    That 81% of Key Performance Indictor (KPI) work had been met in November 2021

    b.    That 97% of KPI work had been met in December 2021

    c.     That the XPS team had been engaged with a training plan and that they were expected to complete 97% - 100% of work going forward.

    d.    Provided an update the Immediate detriment framework as noted in the report.

    e.    That XPS were in the process of obtaining costs to undertake address tracing.

    f.      In regard Action A8/21, it was confirmed that the outstanding inherited tasks were almost complete.

    g.    Confirmed that XPS were investigating systems that could provide a “live” view of calls waiting and available team members which should help reduce missed calls further.

    h.    That the report included member self-service statistics for the first time and provided a brief overview.

    i.      Provided an overview of the common data as noted in the report.

    2.    In regard to Member self-service, a member of the Board stated that it would be helpful for the employee representatives on the Board to raise awareness of the benefits of the self-service portal.

    3.    A member highlighted that they had contacted XPS regarding the purchase of additional pension but had not yet received a response. The XPS representative explained that the contact should have been logged in the workflow system and included within the KPI data. The Chairman requested that XPS follow up on the contact.

    4.    The Board noted that there was no option for active members of the scheme to receive paper copies of pension statements. Non-active members could still receive a paper copy if needed. 

    5.    The Board held a discussion on immediate detriment payments where it was noted that XPS were currently unable to provide full information to members of the scheme as the legislation was not in place to do so and that they were still awaiting answers on technical questions.

    6.    The Board noted that there may be a charge when a member of the scheme requested over three formal estimates however this would be avoided where possible.

    7.    In regard to Action A8/21, the Chairman agreed to close the action provided that the Board were supplied with detail on the process in place to track the completion of outstanding inherited tasks. The XPS representative agreed to provide evidence and detail on the tracking activity to allow the Board to have a full understanding of the process in place.

    8.    Furthermore, in regards to the completed cases overview, the Chairman requested that simple data be included in future reports which covered any backlog each month. The Chairman stated that this data would allow the Board to have oversight of any backlog build up. The XPS representative stated that he believed the information was available to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/22

8/22

Admin Bulletin Update pdf icon PDF 400 KB

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    The Local Firefighters’ Pensions Board has adopted a procedure to ensure that any FPS Bulletins released by the Local Government Association (LGA) are reviewed and any necessary actions are noted and tracked through to completion.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Declarations of interest:

     

    None

     

    Witnesses:

    Sally Wilson, Head Of Data, Digital & Special Projects

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    Officers introduced the report.

    2.    The Chairman thanked officers for their work.

     

    Actions/ further information to be provided:

     

    None.

     

    Recommendations:

     

    The Board noted the report.

9/22

Risk Register pdf icon PDF 205 KB

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    The Board is asked to note the contents of the Risk Register.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Declarations of interest:

     

    None

     

    Witnesses:

    Sally Wilson, Head Of Data, Digital & Special Projects

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    The Chairman introduced the report.

     

    Actions/ further information to be provided:

     

    None.

     

    Recommendations:

     

    The Board noted the report.

     

10/22

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

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    To note the date of the next meeting as 28 April 2022.

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    Minutes:

    The Board noted the date of the next meeting.