Agenda item

Considered –

The report of the Treasurer providing Members with information relating to the

administration of the Fund in the quarter and updates on key issues and initiatives which impact the administration team, including the following:-

Admission Agreements and New Academies

Administration

Membership Statistics

Throughput Statistics

Performance Statistics

Commendations and Complaints

Annual Benefit Statements 2024

Breaches Policy & Log

Issues and Initiatives

Ongoing projects

McCloud

Pensions dashboard

New The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) General Code of Practice

Business Continuity Plan

Risk Register

Member Training

Meeting Timetable

The Head of Pensions Administration introduced the report and the following issues were highlighted:-

·       There appeared to be a false spike in active members as a result of the splitting of records for a leisure services employer that had come into the NYC administrative function.

·       The Administration service continued to be busy, however a two week work in progress position had been maintained. 

·       There had been 13 commendations and 3 complaints during the quarter.

·       A complaint received in June related to incorrect service history data being recorded on a member’s record. The team had since carried out a data audit on the record to avoid this in the future. In response to a question raised by a PFC Member, officers were unable to confirm whether the data was incorrectly recorded by an NYPF employer or officer due to the age of the error. 

·       As of 8 August, only 49 Annual Benefit Statements remained out of 28,564. As of 11 September, only 6 remained.

·       There had been no new breaches of the Regulations during the quarter.

·       i-Connect continued to be rolled out with 198 employers now onboard with 45 remaining to be included, although a few were currently in progress.

·       Good progress had been made with McCloud, and work continued to resolve the list of errors. On 28 August, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government confirmed that McCloud data did not need to be included in the 2024 Annual Benefit Statements, and instead would be included in the 2025 Statements.

·       In response, one Member raised concerns that had the McCloud data needed to be included in the 2024 Annual Benefit Statements, a breach would have likely occurred. In response, it was explained that the majority of LGPS funds would have been in the same position. It was also noted that there was a typographical error in paragraph 4.2 of the report, where the year 2024 should be replaced with 2025.

·       A contract variation had been signed to appoint Heywood as the Fund’s ISP provider for the Pensions Dashboard.

·       The TPR General Code of Practice came into effect on 28 March 2024. A remote workshop was held on 20 August with Aon to discuss the Fund’s progress using Aon’s compliance checker tool. Appendix 3 to the report includes an output report. A meeting on 25 October will be held to look at areas of development and to form an action plan.  

·       The first draft of the business continuity plan had been created and a workshop had been arranged for 8 October.

·       It was noted that work in relation to the Pensions Dashboard Programme was behind schedule, and it was unlikely it would be completed in the specified time frame.

·       In response, one Member asked whether anything could be done by NYPF to bring attention to this situation. It was explained that there was a statutory requirement to complete the work and that the issue had already been raised to the Scheme Advisory Board.

·       The new General Code of Practice highlighted areas that PFC Members should be familiar with. Members would be requested to complete an LGPS National Knowledge Assessment run by Hymans Robertson in October.

·       One Member raised concerns that the PFC had not been informed of the assessment prior to the meeting. Officers noted Members’ frustrations but reminded the Committee that the assessment was voluntary and that the purpose was for officers to gain a better idea of the collective knowledge of PFC Members. It was also noted that the technical nature of the PFC and Pension Board meant that a higher level of knowledge was required of Members compared to other committees. The benefit of attending in-person conferences was also discussed.

·       One Member suggested that the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (BCPP) conference held in July be added to the table recording Member attendance at training on page 75 of the reports pack.

·       The Risk Register was normally brought to the July meeting of the PFC however as the deadline had been missed, it had been brought to the subsequent meeting for review. A detailed report was included at Appendix 4, and a summary report was detailed at Appendix 5.

·       The Key Personnel risk had worsened due to work pressures across the Council to deal with Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) issues and delays in the auditing of the NYPF accounts. 3 risks had lessened, whilst 7 risks had remained the same since the last report.

·       The Head of Pensions Administration explained that the date completed was left blank as the risks were ongoing and therefore did not have an end date, but confirmed the risks would be reviewed.

Resolved –

That the contents of the report are noted.