Agenda item

The Board has previously requested to be kept updated on progress relating to a number of key administration projects and planned improvements which may have an impact on members of the pension fund and the purpose of this report is to provide an update on the current status and progress against any specific target dates.

Witnesses:

Tom Lewis, Pensions Support and Development Manager

Andrew Marson, Pensions Lead Manager

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Pensions Support and Development Manager provided a handout to Board Members (attached as Annex 1).

2.    The Board heard from the Pensions Lead Manager, who provided an update on recent developments in the Pensions Administration department. Members were told that officers had an optimistic outlook and that stakeholders were providing the required support.

3.    The Pensions Lead Manager discussed the reorganisation that had taken place within Pensions Administration, which included staff receiving a personal development plan that allowed them to better focus on targets. He also updated the Board on the appointment of a new team leader.

4.    In relation to the GMP reconciliation, Board Members were informed that Pensions Administration had received all of the member queries and discrepancies from HMRC, with JLT managing to finish that area of work by the April 2019 deadline set out in the report.

5.    Responding to a question from the Chairman about JLT and the backlog project, the Pensions Lead Manager informed the Board that a contract had been signed and backlog work was being sent over. He also provided an update on the number of frozen refunds processed, which now numbered over 2,500.

6.    In relation to end of year/annual benefit statements, the Board heard that of the 276 employers in the Fund, 216 annual returns had been made. The final reminder had been sent out on 25 April 2019 and Pensions Administration would be able to send out a summary and discuss the best course of action once the deadline was reached at the end of April.

7.    The Chairman said that it was encouraging that new roles had been identified and filled and asked if there were any outstanding vacancies. In response, the Pensions Lead Manager told Board Members that the Pensions Administration team was not entirely up to strength as they were in the process of interviewing for a handful of junior level roles.

8.    A Member of the Board asked about the outstanding liability for early retirement strain payments and was told by the Pensions Accountant Advisor that Pensions Finance were in the process of analysing the data they had received from Pensions Administration. It was further noted by the Chairman that checks were being run on data going back to 2009 but that these related to missing payments and did not mean that none had been issued since that date.

9.    In response to a question about skills gaps in the department, the Pensions Lead Manager told the Board that it would take time to build up the necessary knowledge and experience amongst members of the team and that he was looking to improve leadership qualities.

10.  The Chairman discussed the level of complaints that had been received, the number of which had remained relatively stable at approximately 12 per quarter. In response, the Pensions Lead Manager said that he expected the number to grow as they were in the process of addressing the issues, which was likely to increase the number of members getting in touch and expressing dissatisfaction as they are made aware of any related issues.

11.  The Board heard from the Pensions Support and Development Manager about the data cleanse process, which he explained had resulted in the Pensions Administration department cleansing as much of the information as possible over the previous two years, bringing them into the most recent year. Furthermore, the officer told Board Members that approximately 1,000 cases within the current year were missing full-time equivalent pay but that the gap would be filled by the end of year process. The Pensions Support and Development Manager also spoke about system errors, such as the fact that the 150 members who had exited and re-joined the scheme were being shown as having exited and remained inactive, despite their reactivation. The Board was told that a meeting would be taking place with Hymans Robertson the following day to try and solve the issue.

12.  Discussing the data cleanse process, the Pensions Support and Development Manager said that data from employers had not been received prior to the information being published, and this meant that assumptions had been made during its formulation. However, more recent data had now been sent to Pensions Administration its analysis would be updated in the coming weeks. The officer went on to report that its number of discrepancies had come down considerably from where they were when the data cleanse had started. He felt comfortable that those areas were going to continue to reduce to an acceptable level as the process continued.

13.  The Pensions Lead Manager also spoke about the data cleanse process and ran through what the different coloured warnings represented, with yellow warnings predominately being related to those that were tolerance checking and blue ones highlighting current data that had been submitted and was different to the data received at the previous valuation. The Board then heard that the majority of the data generated through warnings were low risk and there were ways for Pensions Administration to eliminate them.

14.  The Chairman asked if it would be possible for the Board to receive a data improvement plan. He was told by the Pensions Lead Manager that the plan was not consolidated in one document but that he would be happy to bring all of the information together in an executive summary.

15.  A Member of the Board asked about the difference between the statistics shown on page 71 and 73 and heard that the one included on 71 reflected the true numbers and that the other had been published in error. It was noted that the Actuary would be reporting on the overall accuracy of data as part of their actuarial valuation work.

16.  In relation to the CIPFA benchmarking report, the Pensions Lead Manager was asked about the statistics on page 48, which indicated that the net cost per member had started increasing. In response, the officer told the Board Member that he would have to analyse the data that had gone into those statistics as previously the net cost per member had consistently been below average.

17.  Turning to page 66, the Chairman asked the Pensions Lead Manager if, as the data showed, it was correct that none of the pension fund staff had relevant qualifications. He was told that there was a small number of people with many years of experience and that the support was there for individuals to pursue professional qualifications. The level of qualified staff members was something that Pensions Administration hoped to improve with the newly recruited trainee team.

18.  A Member of the Board queried if it was possible that other funds structured their teams differently, which would explain the low level of qualified staff at Surrey. The Chairman then asked if it would be possible for the Pensions Lead Manager to compile relevant information to be presented to the Board.

19.  It was noted that a Process Improvement Group had been established at the Board asked for a progress report at each future meeting.

Actions/further information to be provided:

1.    An executive summary from the Pensions Lead Manager on the data improvement plan is to be added to the forward plan for presentation at a meeting later in the year.

2.    The Pensions Lead Manager is to compile relevant information on the low level of qualified pensions staff at Surrey.

3.    A report on the work of the Pensions Improvement Group is to be included in future Board reports.

Resolved:

The Board noted the content of the report.