Agenda and draft minutes
PDF 337 KBVenue: Committee Room, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8EF
Contact: Joss Butler Email: joss.butler@surreycc.gov.uk
Media
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Additional documents: Minutes: No apologies for absence were received.
Benedict Mulliss joined the meeting virtually. |
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MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 10 November 2022 & 24 February 2023 & 27 April 2023
To agree the minutes as a true record of the meetings. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes from the meetings on 10 November 2022 and 24 February 2023 were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting.
The Chairman raised two formatting amendments to the draft minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2023. The Board agreed that the minutes from the meeting held on 27 April 2023 were an accurate record of the meeting subject to the amendments raised by the Chairman.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
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. |
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QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To receive any questions or petitions.
Notes:
1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (14 June 2023). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (13 June 2023) 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received. Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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SURREY FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION BOARD ACTION AND RECOMMENDATION TRACKER
The Board to note the Action and Recommendation Tracker. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Paul Mudd, XPS Phillip Johnson, Senior Pensions Advisor
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Chairman introduced the Action and Recommendation Tracker. The following comments were raised:
A20/20 GMP Exercise - Members noted that Weightmans were in the process of reviewing the draft template to complete the calculations.
A7/21 Address Update – XPS explained that discussions with the provider were continuing to take place. Members noted the update and asked that XPS progress the project so that it could be completed as soon as possible.
A10/22 Feedback on XPS – The Board agreed to close the action as no further complaints had been received.
A1/23 – Pensions Dashboard - The Board agreed to close the action as the detail was being reported within other standing items.
A11/22 Pensions Scams – The representative from XPS provided Members with an overview of scams related to members of a pension scheme transferring their benefits to another scheme and being subject to high unauthorised payment charges. Members noted some examples of scams, and that XPS staff attended annual refresher training on pension scams and the processes in place to address suspicious activity.
A12/22 Risk Register – The Chairman noted that the action was marked to be closed.
A3/23 Member Tracing – In regard to the action, the representative from XPS explained that they had not received a response from the scheme member who was believed to be overseas. The Chairman asked that XPS continue with their efforts to contact the scheme member.
A5/23 Longest Delay – The representative from XPS confirmed that the longest delay was 55 days however the case had been incorrectly logged due to an administrative oversight and was not a normal occurrence. The Chairman asked that data on the longest delay be included in future reports from XPS.
A6/23 Age Discrimination– In regard to McCloud Age discrimination legislation, the Chairman noted that orders had recently been laid before parliament and asked that Members were briefed on any issues within the next few weeks following the meeting.
A7/23 – Annual Benefits Statements - Officers explained that they were hopeful that the information would be available by the end of July 2023.
Actions/ further information to be provided:
None.
Resolved:
The Board noted the Actions and Recommendations Tracker. |
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SCHEME MANAGEMENT UPDATE REPORT
The Board has requested an update on Scheme management activities. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses:
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Senior Pensions Advisor introduced the report and highlighted the following points:
a. The data return for members of the 2006 scheme was due to be completed by the end of June 2023. Although the team have been working tirelessly on this project, the deadline will need to be extended to 31 July 2023. b. Thanked those that contributed towards the McCloud consultation. c. Noted that the Pensions Team's immediate priority focused on completing the McCloud data collection exercise before re-commencing with the 10% project. d. Noted details on risks related to the Matthews Retained scheme. e. In regard to pay award detials for active members, Members noted that a communication to confirm when the pay award data will be included in projections would be sent to members once the Pensions Team had received the pay award data. The Chairman asked that officers contact Board Members if they were unlikely to meet the deadline of 31 August 2023. Officers also confrim that this would be logged as a potential risk within the Risk Register. f. Noted that the abatement policy had been completed and approved by the Workforce Working Group (WWG) and was available to view on the Pensions SharePoint site. g. Noted that a meeting was hosted by XPS Administration to discuss the preparations and challenges faced by fire authorities with regards to implementation of the McCloud Age Discrimination legislation. h. Noted details related to communications since the last meeting. 2. The Vice-Chairman thanked officers and stated that he had recevied good feedback from scheme members on Communications. 3. A member asked for detail on the number of expressions of interest on the Matthews Scheme. Officers confrimed that 200 members were in scope for the modified scheme and 100 members had submitted an expression of interest. The member of the board raised concerns that scheme members were unaware of the opporunity to register an interest and asked that officers consider also confriming whether a member was not interested.
Actions/ further information to be provided:
None.
Resolved:
The Board noted the report. |
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XPS - SURREY FIRE & RESCUE AUTHORITY PENSION BOARD REPORT
To note the XPS – Surrey Fire and Rescue Authority Pension Board report. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Paul Mudd, XPS Sally Wilson, Scheme Manger Carrie Pearce, Pensions Project Officer
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The representative from XPS introduced the item and provided a summary of its content. The following details were noted: a. Details related to regulations and guidance b. Details related to Conditional Data Testing as noted in the report. c. Information related to the National Fraud Initiative. d. An overview of the analysis of late tasks. e. Noted data related to Member Self-Service as noted within the report. f. Presented the common data as noted within the report. g. Noted the data included within the Membership tables. Members noted that XPS were looking to include data in the future related to people who had opted-out of the scheme and that the next auto-enrolment date was in 2025. h. Noted the completed cases overview. 2. The committee discussed opportunities to publicise the date in which auto-enrolment took place. This included using email, the council website and letters. 3. In regard to completed cases, a member suggested that data was included from the previous year to allow Board members to make a comparison.
Actions/ further information to be provided:
None.
Resolved:
The Board noted the report. |
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The Pensions Board has adopted a procedure to ensure that any FPS Bulletins released by LGA are reviewed and any necessary actions are noted and tracked through to completion. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Phillip Johnson, Senior Pensions Advisor
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Board noted the fire bulletins.
Actions/ further information to be provided:
None.
Resolved:
The Board noted the fire bulletins.
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Report attached.
Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Phillip Johnson, Senior Pensions Advisor
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Senior Pensions Advisor introduced the report and noted that the highest rated risks had remained the same compared to the previous publication. 2. The Senior Pensions Advisor provided Members with an overview of the Retained Firefighters (Matthews) Risks. A summary could be found on page 133 of the meeting’s agenda. 3. The Chairman asked that the briefing on the risk titled ‘Pensions Team Skills and Team Resourcing’ was provided in Part 2 (restricted) at the next meeting of the Board.
Actions/ further information to be provided:
Resolved:
The Board noted the risk register.
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DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be on 23 November 2023. Additional documents: Minutes: The Board noted that the date of the next meeting was 23 November 2023.
The Chairman asked the Senior Pensions Officer to confirm whether there was a need to reschedule the next meeting of the Board to take place in October or early November 2023. |