North Yorkshire Council
Pension Fund Committee
22 May 2026
Administration Report
Report of the Treasurer
1. Purpose of the Report
1.1. To provide Members with information relating to the administration of the Fund in the quarter and to provide an update on key issues and initiatives which impact the administration team.
2. Admission Agreements & New Academies
2.1. The latest position relating to admission agreements and academy conversions is shown in Appendix 1.
3. Administration
3.1. Membership Statistics
|
Membership Category |
At 31/12/2025 |
+/- Change (%) |
At 31/03/2026 |
|
30,585 |
+0.40% |
30,708 |
|
|
Deferred |
38,486 |
-0.52% |
38,284 |
|
Pensioner (incl spouse & dependant members) |
34,578 |
+1.13% |
34,968 |
|
Total |
103,649 |
|
103,960 |
3.2. Throughput Statistics
· Period from 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2026
|
Case type |
Cases Outstanding at Start |
New Cases |
Cases Closed |
Cases Outstanding at End |
|
Transfer In quotes |
8 |
22 |
28 |
2 |
|
Transfer Out quotes |
15 |
228 |
217 |
26 |
|
Employer & employee estimates |
202 |
970 |
969 |
203 |
|
Retirement quotes |
41 |
405 |
403 |
43 |
|
Preserved benefits |
1,759 |
1,092 |
1,625 |
1,226 |
|
Death in payment or in service |
149 |
773 |
753 |
169 |
|
Refunds |
155 |
414 |
329 |
240 |
|
Actual retirement procedure |
400 |
1,384 |
1,240 |
544 |
|
Interfund transfers |
800 |
871 |
911 |
760 |
|
Aggregate member records |
87 |
388 |
344 |
131 |
|
Others |
326 |
2,304 |
2,284 |
346 |
|
Total Cases |
3,942 |
8,851 |
9,103 |
3,690 |
·
As
well as processing the above cases, the Pensions team also handled
3,072 phone calls (average 60 per working day) in the
quarter.
3.3. Performance Statistics
· The performance figures for the period 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2026 are as follows:
|
Performance Indicator |
Target in period |
Achieved |
|
Measured work completed within target
|
98% |
94% |
|
Customers surveyed ranking service good or excellent
|
94% |
95% |
|
Increase numbers of registered self-service users by 700 per quarter (total registered users 16,455)
|
700 |
16,455 |
· We continue to focus on completing all our work within target and encouraging sign up for member self-service.
· The number of self-service registered users was reset to zero when the new platform went live on 16 January 2026. We are undertaking a number of campaigns to encourage members to re-register for the new platform.
3.4. Commendations and Complaints
· This quarter the following commendations and complaints were received:
Commendations
|
Date |
Number |
Summary |
|
Jan |
3 |
Exceptional service Professional |
|
Feb |
2 |
Extremely patient and helpful |
|
Mar |
1 |
Patience, kindness and understanding |
Complaints
|
Date |
Number |
Summary |
|
Jan |
2 |
Admin – complaint about having to provide documentary evidence to change gender on pension record Regs – complaint about tier 3 ill health only being uplifted to a tier 2 |
|
Feb |
0 |
|
|
Mar |
1 |
IHER – complaint against employer for declining ill health application |
· The complaint categories are:
a) Admin - these can relate to errors in calculations, delays in processing and making payment of benefits.
b) Regs - these relate to a complaint where regulations prevent the member being able to do what they want to.
c) IHER - these are where members have been declined for early retirement on the grounds of ill health and are appealing the decision through the Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure.
Lessons Learned
Having reviewed the complaints received in the period there were no patterns identified requiring further attention. We have however, amended our processes for gender reassignment cases.
3.5. Annual Benefit Statements 2026
The preparatory work continues. Data has been received from 158 employers with 30 outstanding. These are being chased regularly.
A workshop was held in April with templates and processes reviewed and amended where required. Checking and testing work continues.
3.6. Breaches Log
Included at Appendix 2 is the North Yorkshire Pension Fund’s Breaches Log for review. There are no new entries this quarter.
4. Issues and Initiatives
4.1. McCloud
Pensioners continue to be processed with 161 already paid, 44 to pay in May and the final 33 to be paid in June. Work has now commenced on the final stage for deceased members and transfers out, of which there are 199 on the initial list.
4.2. Regulation changes
Work has begun on the regulation changes introduced by the Fit for the Future, Access and Fairness and Access and Protection changes. Each introduces a significant amount of change across various aspects of the governance and administration of the Fund, and we continue to evaluate and quantify the impact and numbers affected by the changes.
Employers have been notified of the necessary changes resulting from the Access and Fairness regulatory amendments, which came into force on 1 April 2026 and have immediate effect on pension scheme members.
5. Member Training
The Member training record showing the training undertaken up to the end of the relevant quarter is attached as Appendix 3.
Please contact Christian Brennan on 01723 232332 or email christian.brennan@northyorks.gov.uk with any details of training undertaken or conferences attended, and these will be added to the training record.
Upcoming courses, seminars and conferences available to Members are set out in the schedule attached as Appendix 4.
Please contact the team on email pensionfund@northyorks.gov.uk for further information or DemocraticServices.West@northyorks.gov.uk or christian.brennan@northyorks.gov.uk to reserve a place on an event.
6. Meeting Timetable
The latest timetable for forthcoming meetings of the Committee is attached as Appendix 5.
7. Recommendations
8.1 Members to note the contents of the report.
8.2 Members to note the contents of the Breaches Log.
Gary Fielding
Treasurer of North Yorkshire Pension Fund
North Yorkshire Council
County Hall
Northallerton
14 May 2026