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:

Neil Mason, Director, LGPS Senior Officer

Tom Lewis, Head of Service Delivery

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.      The Head of Service Delivery reported that the overall performance for the quarter was 97%, a 5% increase from the previous quarter.

2.      The success of the new online retirement options were highlighted, which had reduced the average processing time from 9.5 days to 2 days. The service would be further promoted through bulletins to employers.

3.      The role of employers in the new process had not changed and the Head of Service Delivery emphasised the importance of providing accurate and timely monthly returns.

4.      In response to a question, the Head of Service Delivery explained that terminated, or closed, cases were those that had been set up by the service team in the incorrect workflow. Although the service team had worked to reduce these occurrences significantly, it was an ambition to further reduce them.

5.      The relatively low number of complaints, Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure cases, and Ombudsman cases, were highlighted. The Head of Service Delivery noted the ambition to learn from such cases to further improve service delivery.

6.      The Fund’s external contractor had provided the final calculation data for the GMP reconciliation but the quality of the data was under review.

7.      Approximately 2,000 records required rectification, with final numbers to be confirmed when known. Existing resource being used to complete the work.

8.      The legacy case backlog had reached 97% completion, with the remainder requiring input from employers. There were also approximately 2100 legacy backlog cases associated with Surrey County Council. A further 300 cases associated with a payroll provider that was experiencing difficulty in supplying data were also being supported.

9.      The Head of Service Delivery confirmed that regardless of issues with Unit4, when investigating a case, there were multiple checks performed to ensure the accuracy of the data.

10.   It was recognised that further McCloud cases requiring remedial action would arise through day to day operations, but would be handled through normal channels.

11.   A procurement exercise for the Pension Administration System had been carried out. The incumbent contractor had been awarded a 5-year term and contract terms were being finalised.

12.   CEM benchmarking had been carried out for a second successive year, primarily through a customer-centric lens. It had highlighted both areas of strength and areas to improve for the fund. It was agreed to provide Board members with a copy of the benchmarking report and uploaded to the pensions SharePoint site.

13.   The Board discussed the tight timescales for communications to members that would apply. The Head of service delivery confirmed that a minimum response time of one month was being used and if the data could not be confirmed prior to the cutoff date, the cases would be handled following the pensions increase in April.

Actions/ further information to be provided:

Provide Board members with a copy of the CEM benchmarking report through the pensions SharePoint site.

Recommendations:

The Board:

1.      Noted the content of the report.

2.      Made no recommendations to the Pension Fund Committee.